The Employment Rights Bill 2024 was introduced as ”the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation” in prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s own words. This is no understatement, because it contains 28 changes. If anything, the latest government amendments and responses to consultation dated 4 March strengthen the new rights.
The change with most drastic impact is the day one unfair dismissal right, removing the two-year qualifying period. Plans for an initial period, where a lighter touch procedure can be followed for some dismissals, are not firmed up, though the government favours a nine-month period.
Zero-hours contracts workers will be protected, with a right to be offered a guaranteed hours contract and to receive reasonable notice of shifts are planned. The latest amendments close a loophole to extend these rights to ensure that 900,000 agency workers are also protected. Rules on industrial action will be relaxed. The latest version of the bill confirms the 12-week mandate and reduces the notice required to start industrial action from 14 to 10 days. Another example is simplified information requirements.
A right for unions to access workplaces and relaxing rules on recognition ballots, will all make it easier for unions to gain a foothold in previously untouched sectors. Individuals will also have a right to a statement of trade union rights.
Collective redundancy consultation rules will be toughened. Numbers across various sites will be included in calculating the 20-employee trigger. The latest proposal increases the maximum compensation for failure to follow the rules from 90 to 180 days pay per employee. This is to deter the employer which just ‘prices in’ the compensation while ignoring obligations.
As well as applying from the first day of absence, statutory sick pay (SSP) will be extended to low-paid workers earning less than £123 per week at the lower of 80% pay and the SSP rate. A provision to ensure that workers employed through an umbrella company have the same rights as those employed directly by an agency closes another possible loophole.
Government response is that better workforce rights will create a more productive workforce, improved selection and people management being key. Given the increased risks, employers must be fully prepared by mid-2026.
They will need to monitor dates of implementation and amendment details, review zero-hours contracts if relevant and flag new protections to employees, review employment contracts including probationary periods and trade union recognition, review policies on redundancy and collective consultation, and review performance management and discipline procedures and policies, including application in the first two years of employment.
Employers should also review recruitment processes to see if a recruitment strategy has been put in place, are job specifications clear or are managers trained in interviewing and selection; ensure they educate staff on other areas such as sexual harassment, which have seen changes aimed at senior leadership in terms of risk awareness, middle managers in terms of fair process, recruitment practice and when to seek HR or legal advice, and employees in relation to harassment; how performance is nurtured; flexible working and how grievances may be resolved, including HR support.
Jonathan Mansfield is an employment law partner at Spencer West
