The latest updates on the Employment Rights Bill and and Umbrella Reforms for November 2025.
W/C 10th November
Employment Rights Bill
See our update below on the Commons’ rejection of the Lords’ amendments. The government are coming under increasing pressure to reconsider the impact of the reforms on the labour market and employer behaviour, particularly given other policies being considered such as levying NI on pension salary sacrifice. This was considered in Policy Talks Q4.
We are engaging with peers this week ahead of the Lords debate on 17th November.
- MPs rejected all the Lords’ amendments to the Employment Rights Bill - including on day-one dismissal rights, zero-hours contracts and union ballot thresholds - firmly backing the Government’s reforms.
- The reasoning for disagreement with the Lords’ amendments can be found here. The Employment Rights Bill returns to the Lords for further debate on 17 November. As such, Royal Assent may be delayed until December.
- The Tony Blair Institute has warned that the Government’s proposed “day one” employment rights and wider reforms are overly extreme and risk damaging hiring, business confidence and economic growth.
- The Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade Andrew Griffith has argued that the Bill is dominated by trade union interests and will severely harm businesses, trigger mass job losses and increase welfare costs, urging it to be withdrawn before it becomes an “Unemployment Act”.
- A poll by the Chartered Management Institute shows that most managers support the Employment Rights Bill and the role of trade unions, while seeking additional guidance to implement day-one worker rights effectively and maintain positive workplace relations.
- Angela Rayner has urged MPs to defend Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, arguing it will deliver the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.
The Government has launched four consultations on how measures in the Employment Rights Bill should operate in practice, focusing on protections for pregnant women and new mothers, bereavement leave, and trade union reforms.
Further consultations will follow in line with the Implementation Roadmap to ensure continued engagement with stakeholders on the Employment Rights Bill and the wider Plan to Make Work Pay.
Umbrella Reforms
Expect the final Finance Act next month, containing Chapter 11, ahead of April 2026. APSCo are running webinars and in-person member meetings on Umbrella Companies. You can find details here, if you’d like to attend and get involved.