UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Labour’s flagship workers’ rights bill has passed its final parliamentary stage and is expected to become law before Christmas, marking a major reform.
During the Employment Rights Bill’s most recent round of legislative ping pong in the House of Lords, Conservative lord Lord Sharpe, the shadow business and commerce minister, proposed an amendment.
However, following a brief debate, he withdrew the amendment, removing the last obstacle to the bill’s passage.
A “major victory for working people in every part of the country” was declared by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The majority of the bill’s provisions will need secondary legislation before they can be implemented.
“We have just introduced the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation… Today our plans passed through parliament, and will soon become law,”
he said.
Wales, Scotland, and England are covered by the bill, but Northern Ireland is not.
In addition to providing new safeguards for expectant moms and new mothers, it will grant workers access to paternity leave and sick pay from the moment they start working.
Labour withdrew its proposal to grant all employees the ability to file a claim for wrongful termination from their first day of employment in November. However, the most important part of the plan will provide the government with improved safeguards starting after six months of work.
This week, royal assent is anticipated.
Which key rights change from the Employment Rights Act affect employers most?
Employers face the topmost impact from the Employment Rights Bill’s reduction of the illegal redundancy qualifying period to day one (from two times) and junking of the compensation cap, exposing enterprises to immediate claims and uncapped payouts potentially exceeding £100,000 per case.
Obligatory offers of guaranteed hours to regular zero- hour workers, plus compensation for short- notice shift cancellations, put heavy executive burdens on flexible staffing sectors like retail and hospitality, taking robust shadowing systems.
Restrictions on varying crucial terms (pay, hours, pensions) without concurrence, backed by doubled defensive awards up to 180 days’ pay, discourage restructurings and raise redundancy costs, egging businesses to advise of hiring caution amid 2026 perpetration.