Employment Rights Bill progress

The Employment Rights Bill, first put before Parliament on 10 October 2024, has been amended following the conclusion of the committee stage of its passage to become law.

Until the Bill becomes law, there is the potential for it to be further changed and, therefore, the provisions within it should be viewed as proposals until that time comes.

Tribunal claim time limits

The most significant amendment to the bill is the proposed increase in the time limit employees have to bring a tribunal claim from three months to six months. On top of this there are also several clarifications or minor amendments set out below.

Guaranteed-hours contracts

As a reminder, the Bill contains provisions for individuals on zero-hours and “low-hours” contracts to be given the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work based on a 12-week period. This has now been expanded to require employers to provide new employees with information on this right where the new employee is likely to be later eligible for a guaranteed-hours contract offer. This must be provided within the first two weeks of employment

Alongside this, where an offer is made for a guaranteed-hours contract, employers must also provide relevant information regarding the employee’s right and why the offer is being made.

These provisions will mean that employers will have to provide two additional documents to this group of employees.

Shift cancellations and changes

Clarification has been added to the Bill regarding the requirement to compensate individuals where their shifts have been cancelled or changed. The clarifications make it clear that employees will be entitled to reasonable notice and compensation for shifts that have been “requested” by the employer, as well as those “required”. The clarifications also ensure that employers can make changes to any shift that has not yet been agreed to by any employee without notice or need for compensation.

Gender equality

It’s been clarified that provisions relating to reporting and action plans in the Bill, in that in references to these requirements, gender equality includes the gender pay gap and supporting women with the menopause.

Trade unions

The original draft of the Bill included enhanced rights of entry to workplaces for trade unions. It has now been clarified this will not apply to businesses that are run out of someone’s home. Moreover, only “qualifying” trade unions will have a right to access — defined as unions that have an independent certificate.

Fire and re-hire

Finally, the Government’s plans for fire and re-hire rules have been given additional detail. The Bill contains provisions that will make dismissal for refusing to agree to vary the terms and conditions of employment automatically unfair, unless the employer can show that the reason for the variation was to eliminate, prevent or reduce financial difficulties. Following the amendment, this now goes further and requires employers to show that “in all circumstances, they could not reasonably have avoided the need to make the variation”.

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