Last week the Government announced a further set of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill
These will be debated in the House of Lord’s Report Stage on 14th 16th 21st and 23rd July 2025.
The Bill will not receive Royal Assent before summer recess, likely in September. Consultations will be staggered early autumn, then mid-autumn, then Spring 2026 onwards.
Note it is likely that only Government amendments will be in the final Act – those proposed by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (the Government’s shadow minister in the Lords) and marked with an asterisk in the HL Bill 113 – Running List 7 July
Government amendments include:
- The provision designed to address the practice of ‘fire and rehire’, and which effectively gave employees the power of veto over all forms of contractual change, has been revised. Dismissals involving changes to “core terms” (e.g., pay, hours, leave, shift patterns) via fire-and-rehire will be considered automatically unfair, unless:
-The employer is in severe financial difficulty, and
-There is no reasonable alternative. The amendments distinguish “core terms” from non-core terms (e.g., location, job role).
- Agency workers who have transitioned onto a guaranteed hours contract and who were paid more than permanent employees will be offered the same pay as other workers in a guaranteed hours offer, meaning employers will not be required to offer pay far in excess of their permanent workforce. This is likely to make a guaranteed hours offer even less attractive to a professional contractor. This amendment arose as a result of APSCo’s engagement in which we indicated that professional contractors are often paid far in excess of permanent comparators, that the legislation will unbalance the marketplace and professional contractors do not need or want the protection of the right to be offered guaranteed hour contracts.
- Extension of bereavement leave to miscarriages before 24 weeks of pregnancy. Parents are currently entitled to a fortnight’s leave if they suffer pregnancy loss after 24 weeks.
- Banning confidentiality agreements seeking to prevent workers from speaking about allegations or harassment and discrimination. NDAs will continue to be permitted for commercial purposes.
These amendments particularly on “fire and rehire” are beneficial to business and show a willingness on Government’s part to listen. However, there is still much they refuse to shift on, including the union provisions, and “right to be offered” as opposed to “right to request” guaranteed hours.
We have revised our briefing for the Report stage and sent it to key Lords, including Lords Hunt and Sharpe on Monday ahead of the Report discussions.
Our recommendations include:
- Limitations in scope of the zero-hour provisions and a 12-month reference period.
- Updated impact assessments to be made on all provisions ahead of or during consultation stages later in the year.
- Attention to be given to enforcement and access to justice with adequate funding of the Fair Work Agency and Employment Tribunal system and at least one day’s waiting period for statutory sick pay.
Members can access the full briefing here.