On Wednesday 27 November 2024, the government produced an amendment paper on the Employment Rights Bill.

The Employment Rights Bill was presented on 10 October 2024 and contained significant changes to employment law that will come into force in 2026.  It is perhaps no surprise that amendments are required, given the scale of the new bill and the potential impact on employers.

This lengthy paper proposes fairly significant amendments to some of the key elements of the bill, and will make interesting reading to those responsible for employing and managing staff.  For HR teams, there may be further concerns around how the new proposals will be managed in practice, and just how many policies and procedures may need to be re-drafted to accommodate these changes.

Notable Proposals and Their Implications

We have summarised some of the most notable proposals below:

• Arguably the most significant proposal, and one that was not included in the original Employment Rights Bill, is around extending the time limit for bringing claims in the employment tribunal. The current time limit is 3 months, and this proposal increases that time limit to 6 months for bringing a claim.  Given the backlogs we are currently seeing in the Tribunal system, it will be interesting to see what action may be taken to address any potential increase in the overall number of claims being submitted.
• Another proposed amendment is in relation to the ‘initial’ period of employment, and the proposed ‘day one’ rights to protection from unfair dismissal (currently the protection from ordinary unfair dismissal only applies after 2 years’ service). There have been many discussions around what an appropriate probation period may look like in future, and the amendment paper now suggests that this initial period of employment will likely be between 3 and 9 months.
• The amendments also propose a requirement for all employers to prepare action plans to deal with menstrual disorders, and clarify that the proposed trade union rights of access to work premises, will not be relevant where a workplace is used as a dwelling.
  

Additional Proposals and Areas of Concern

Whilst it is helpful that thought has been given to clarifying some of the more significant changes that employers will need to get to grips with, unfortunately, the amendment paper does not go as far as to provide more detailed guidance around the complicated issue of ‘guaranteed hours’.

The proposals do, however, address changes to the planned payments that will be applicable where shifts are cancelled or changed at short notice, and takes the approach of allowing tribunals to consider whether to make an award, and if so, decide what level of award is appropriate, depending on the severity of the particular case before them.

The paper contains other proposals, such as making non-disclosure agreements between a worker and the worker’s employer void where workers are prevented from making a relevant disclosure about any type of harassment, and a clause prohibiting ‘substitution clauses’ in certain types of contract.

Staying Informed and Getting Support

We will continue to monitor further proposals and guidelines as they are published.

If you would like more information on how these changes could impact your business or need support in preparing for the amendments, our Employment & HR team is here to help. Contact us at online.enquiries@la-law.com, and we’ll be happy to assist with any questions or concerns.