Wednesday 26 November 2025 - Croner
Before the general election on 4 July 2024, the Government made several pledges about changes that it would make to enhance employee protections if it were to win and form the new Government. As the Employment Rights Bill has now been published, we take an in-depth look at how it intends to change the law in relation to existing employment protections and obligations.
Background
There are a number of changes that we can expect to see when it comes to employee rights. They cover a range of different areas and the impact will be far reaching; every worker and employee will be affected. The Employment Rights Bill, which was published by the Government on 10 October 2024, proposes the following reform to existing employment protections and obligations:
Unfair dismissal
Currently, a period of continuous service is needed before an employee has protection from ordinary unfair dismissal. One of the proposed reforms in the Bill is to make the right to claim unfair dismissal a day-one right, so that employees have this right from the very start of their employment.
This would mean that employers will only be able to dismiss an employee if the reason for dismissal is for one of the five potentially fair reasons (conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory ban and some other substantial reason) and the dismissal for that reason is fair.
There will, however, be an initial period of employment during which a statutory probationary period will apply, so that employers can carry out a proper assessment of an employee’s suitability for the role. During this probationary period, the Government says that there will be a lighter-touch process and less onerous approach for employers to follow to dismiss an employee who is not right for the role. The Government has said that it is inclined to suggest that this would include holding a meeting with the employee to explain the concerns about their performance.
The Government will consult further on this and on the length of the probationary period, but its preference is for it to be nine months.
The removal of the unfair dismissal qualifying period will mean a significant change to the current practices of employers who have flexibility within the first two years of employment to dismiss an employee without following the sometimes-lengthy procedures required when an employee has two or more years’ service. HR-inform Employment Rights Bill: proposals for existing employment protections and obligations Click here to find out more
Disciplinary policies will need to be reviewed to ensure compliance with the new rules once the Government has published more information. It’s also likely that practices around probationary periods will need to be tightened if these will become a more important mechanism in the assessment of new recruits.
Fire and re-hire
The new statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement, confirmed under the Conservative government, has been in place since 18 July 2024. Fire and re-hire, otherwise known as “dismissal and reengagement”, is the practice of forcibly changing terms and conditions of employment by dismissing the employee on their current terms and immediately re-engaging them on the new terms.
The Government had previously said that it would strengthen the Code of Practice. However, the Bill proposes to restrict employers’ ability to use fire and re-hire by amending the law on unfair dismissal. This would mean that where employees are dismissed for failing to agree to a change in their contract of employment, those dismissals will be treated as automatically unfair unless the employer can show evidence of financial difficulties and demonstrate that the need to make the change in contractual terms was unavoidable.
Fair Work Agency
There are currently various separate agencies that deal with enforcement, eg HMRC and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. A new Fair Work Agency will be established to bring together these different government enforcement bodies, enforce holiday pay for the first time and strengthen SSP compliance.
Strengthen existing rights
Pregnant workers
The Government intends to enhance the protection for pregnant workers against dismissal to build on recent developments in this area. In April 2024, the Conservative government granted further protection to working parents during a redundancy exercise. Those who are pregnant and employees who have returned from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave must be offered a suitable alternative role, where one exists, above all other employees when they are faced with redundancy. Those on maternity and adoption leave were already entitled to this enhanced treatment.
The Bill proposes to extend protection by banning dismissals of employees who are pregnant, on maternity leave and for six months after their return from leave, except in specific circumstances.
The Government will need to provide detail on those specific circumstances, but it is likely to include a genuine redundancy exercise, taking into consideration the laws enacted in April 2024 on the offer of a suitable alternative role. Redundancy Current rules on redundancy consultation are set to change with an alteration to the definition of “establishment” which serves to identify when collective consultation must be carried out. Where an employer proposes to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less, collective consultation must be done. This means ensuring employees are kept up to date with what’s happening and allowing them to ask questions through representatives elected to speak on their behalf rather than individually. Minimum periods of consultation also apply depending on the exact number of proposed redundancies. An “establishment” means the unit that employees work from, eg the office where they work. Where there is more than one unit, eg a large firm with several branches across Great Britain, the establishment is taken to be each single unit rather than the business as a whole.
For example, a firm has offices in four cities in Great Britain. The firm identifies a need to make redundancies: 25 proposed redundancies in Location A; 8 in Location B; 10 in Location C and 6 in Location D.Collective consultation would need to be carried out in Location A alone because the number of proposed redundancies meets the minimum 20 threshold. Consultation in Locations B, C and D can be done with employees on an individual basis and minimum consultation periods do not apply. This is because, at each “establishment” there are fewer than 20 proposed redundancies. The number of proposed redundancies across the firm is not added together for the purpose of identifying whether the collective consultation threshold is met.
The Bill proposes to change the definition of “establishment” so that it means the business as a whole and not the single workplace unit. The impact on the above example would be that collective consultation would need to be carried out for all employees, regardless of where they carry out their work.
Trade unions
Trade union legislation is expected to be updated as the Bill proposes to repeal the requirement for minimum service levels during a strike and to simplify the process of union recognition, eg removing the requirement for a recognition ballot to have a turnout of at least 40%. The Bill also proposes to introduce rights to allow unions access to workplaces in a regulated and responsible manner.
Timeline
The proposals in the Bill will need to go through the usual parliamentary process before becoming law, which is not expected to be until 2026.
Non-legislative change
The Government has said that it will progress some of the commitments made in its pre-election Plan to Make Work Pay through separate legislation or by non-legislative means. This includes modernising health and safety guidance.
Longer-term vision
The Government has also said that some of the commitments will form part of its longer-term vision.
Employment status
The Government plans to combine the categories of “employee” and “worker”; the current distinction between the two categories is an important one. Employees have a vast array of employment rights, including the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to request flexible working, the right to take maternity leave, etc which workers do not have. Some employment rights apply to workers — those engaged on a more casual basis — in the same way they apply to employees, such as the right to have paid annual leave and National Minimum Wage. Combining the two categories is bound to have an effect on the current separation of rights and it could well mean that those that are classed as workers gain a considerable amount of rights that they do not currently have.
Other areas
In addition, the Government has pledged to enhance rights for/through:
‘This article was brough to you by our partner, Croner, the leading HR and Health & Safety consultancy company in the UK.