Amendments to the Employment Rights Bill

On Thursday 10 October 2024, the new Labour Government published its ambitious Employment Rights Bill (ERB), which represents the most radical set of reforms to employment law that the UK has seen in decades.

Many commentators have since agreed that the publication of the ERB was rushed, as Labour sought to make good on its promise to introduce this legislation within its first 100 days in power (which meant that 10 October 2024 was the last day the ERB could have been presented to parliament.

Unsurprisingly, the Government has now published an amendment paper that runs to over 53 pages, introduces significant updates and clarifications, and addresses gaps and ambiguities in the original ERB. The amendment paper also includes amendments proposed by politicians.

The significant amendments proposed are:

• Extended Time Limit for Tribunal Claims: The time limit for bringing claims to the Employment Tribunal (ET) will become 6 months (at present, most ET claims have a 3-month time limit).
• Redefinition of Initial Employment Period: For the purposes of the removal of the qualifying period of service for unfair dismissal claims, the “initial period of employment” is now confirmed to be between 3 and 9 months. We infer that this means that the maximum length of any probationary period (during which the Government has indicated that employers will have more of a free hand to dismiss employees without following an exhaustive procedure) will be 9 months.
• Shift Payment Rules: Changes are proposed to the rules for compensating workers for cancelled, moved, or curtailed shifts
• Menstrual Health and Gender Equality: Menstrual problems and disorders will now be included under “matters related to gender equality”.
• Trade Union Access Restrictions: Trade union access will explicitly not apply to workplaces within private dwellings.
• Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): NDAs that prevent disclosures related to harassment, including sexual harassment, will be void.
• Substitution Clauses: Substitution clauses in employment and dependent contractor contracts will be prohibited.

These amendments represent a clear effort by the Government to refine and future-proof the rushed ERB. While some proposed amendments do address glaring omissions in the original legislation, others will introduce new complexities.

It should also be noted that the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) has recently delivered a critical assessment of the ERB’s accompanying impact assessments (IAs), which were designed to underpin and justify the Government’s proposals. Following its review, the RPC has assigned the IAs a ‘red rating,’ signifying the lowest possible approval level. Whether this will have any effect of the final format of the ERB remains to be seen.

If you have any questions about the ERB or the amendment paper, please call our Employment Law team today on 0113 207 0000.