The Employment Rights Bill – what you need to know
Latest: On Thursday 28 November 2025 the government announced a U-turn on its manifesto commitment to offer all workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from their first day in a job.
The Employment Rights Bill will now introduce the right after six months instead, following concerns it would discourage businesses from hiring.
The government says the change will stop new employment legislation being further delayed in the House of Lords, where it has faced challenge.
At the moment employers must identify a fair reason for dismissal, such as conduct or capability, if they want to sack employees who have been in their role continuously for two years or more - and show that they acted reasonably and followed a fair process.
The government had planned to abolish the qualifying period, alongside introducing a new nine-month legal probation period.
The promise was a central pledge in Labour's manifesto ahead of last year's general election, and a key plank of its Employment Rights Bill, which is set to come into effect from 2026.
More to follow.
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With the Employment Rights Bill careering through the legislative process and expected to receive Royal Assent during autumn 2025, now is the time to get to grips with the proposed legislation and timeline for implementation so you’re prepared for the changes potentially coming your way as early as April 2026.
The Bill
The Bill looks set to implement a variety of measures across six areas:
Balancing out one-sided flexibility;
Ensuring fair pay for a fair day’s work;
Modernising trade union legislation;
Prioritising fairness, equality and wellbeing;
Streamlining the enforcement of employment rights; and
Supporting family rights.
The timeline
The Employment Rights Bill was introduced to parliament.
The Bill is currently going through several rounds of parliamentary readings, and is expected to receive Royal Assent in the autumn.
Modernising trade union legislation:Once the Bill receives Royal Assent, the Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act 2023 will be repealed in full, alongside major aspects of the Trade Union Act 2016 (with further provisions of the Act to be repealed via a commencement order at a later date).
Ensuring fair pay for a fair day’s work: Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay;
Modernising trade union legislation: Simplifying the trade union recognition process and digital/workplace balloting systems;
Prioritising fairness, equality and wellbeing: Implementing enhanced whistleblower protections;
Streamlining enforcement of employment rights: Establishing new a Fair Work Agency body; and
Supporting family rights: Bringing in day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
Balancing out one-sided flexibility: Banning fire-and-rehire practices;
Ensuring fair pay for a fair day’s work: Bringing forward regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body; strengthening tipping laws;
Modernising trade union legislation: Introducing new rights and protections for trade union representatives; strengthening trade unions’ right of access; and extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action;
Prioritising fairness, equality and wellbeing: Bringing in an ‘All reasonable steps’ requirement for employers to prevent sexual harassment; introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties; and allowing relevant employers to voluntarily produce gender pay gap and menopause action plans (ahead of this becoming mandatory in 2027); and
Streamlining enforcement of employment rights: Bringing into effect employment tribunal time limits.
Balancing out one-sided flexibility: Introducing protection from unfair dismissal from ‘day-one’; setting a new collective consultation threshold for redundancies; and banning zero-hours contracts;
Prioritising fairness, equality and wellbeing: Requiring relevant employers to produce gender pay gap and menopause action plans (if not done so voluntarily after April 2026); introducing a power to enable regulations to specify steps that determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment; and bringing in changes to unfair dismissal;
Streamlining enforcement of employment rights: Regulating umbrella companies; and
Supporting family rights: Introducing new rights for pregnant workers; strengthening the existing ‘day-one’ right to request flexible working; and implementing a new right to unpaid bereavement leave.
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The Employment Rights Bill will bring with it an extensive overhaul of employment law, and has the potential to impact different businesses in different ways over the coming years. We’re here to cut through the confusion, and help you get the job done.
