One of the Labour Party’s most prominent election promises was its reform of the Employment Rights Bill.
Now in power after their success in July 2024, the party’s ministers have unveiled their plans, aiming to “deliver economic security and growth to businesses, workers and communities across the UK”.
The Government said the 28 individual employment reforms would mark “the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”.
The planned changes are expected to operate from late 2026.
But what is being proposed and how will it affect the UK’s workforce?
Unfair dismissal
Under the proposed plan, employees will have the right to be protected against unfair dismissal from their first day at a job. Workers must currently be employed for at least two years to qualify for these protections. The change could benefit around nine million of the UK’s workers.
However, the suggested plans also state that employees will have a nine-month probation period when they can be dismissed without a full process. The Government says this allows for “a proper assessment of an employee’s suitability to a role” and reassures “employees that they have rights from day one”.
Statutory sick pay
Another major proposal includes workers qualifying for statutory sick pay from the first day of an illness, compared with the current rule which entitles them to sick pay from the fourth day.
Flexible working
As it stands, all employees in the UK have the legal right to request flexible working. This includes the number of hours they work, when they start/finish, their particular days of work — and also the location they work from. However, under the suggested reform, bosses will be expected to consider flexible working requests from day one and will have to prove where a request is unreasonable if rejected.
Paternity leave, unpaid parental leave and unpaid bereavement leave
The Government’s proposed changes also affect when workers are entitled to paternity and unpaid parental leave. Currently, fathers or partners are eligible for paternity leave only after 26 weeks of employment.
However, the proposed plans would make it a “day one” right, similar to maternity leave. Unpaid parental and bereavement leave would also become day-one rights under the plans.
Zero-hour contracts
Also known as casual contracts, a new measure would give workers under these contracts the right to request guaranteed hours after a defined period. The Government’s original proposal said this would be 12 weeks. Workers can request to stay on a zero-hours contract if they prefer.
Previous Trades Union Congress (TUC) research has shown that 84 per cent of workers on zero-hour contracts would prefer guaranteed hours.
What isn't in the Employment Rights Bill?
The BBC reported that certain measures have not been featured in the Employment Rights Bill — after being included in Labour's plan to "Make Work Pay" issued before the general election.
These include the "right to switch off" — preventing employers from contacting staff out of hours on phones, emails and texts.
Creating a "single status of worker" is also not included. This aimed to increase protection for people who are classed as self-employed, but mainly work for one employer, but have fewer entitlements than other employees.
The BBC said it understood legal complexities meant this would have to be revisited later.
