When the Labour government came into office last summer, it was off the back of a manifesto which promised to strengthen employment rights, tackle low pay and poor working conditions, which it considered were holding back the economy and stifling growth. There has been a huge amount of noise since about its proposals for change, particularly through the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), which was introduced in October 2024, with the committee stage in the House of Lords underway. The bill introduces changes across the employment law framework – ranging from repealing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, increasing Tribunal time limits to 6 months, making it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to agree changes to their employment contract, providing enhanced rights for zero hours workers, bolstering trade union rights, enhancing protection against dismissal for pregnant workers and introducing family leave as a day one right. It marks a significant overhaul of employment legislation, with some commentators identifying it as the single biggest piece of new employment law legislation that we have ever seen.
But there is also more going on. In October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force, introducing a specific duty on employers to take "reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of its employees, with financial penalties for any failure to do so. On 6 April 2025, statutory neonatal care leave and pay came into force, for eligible employees with babies in neonatal care. A call for evidence on equality law opened on 7 April 2025, with a stated commitment to bring combined or dual discrimination into force, so that claimants could bring discrimination claims in relation to a combination of two protected characteristics. The government is also seeking views on extending equal pay provisions to race and disability.
It's a lot for employers to digest, particularly at a time when there continue to be many other pressures. There are concerns about the negative impact on businesses, that it will be easier for employees to bring claims, for trade unions to organise industrial action and that the changes could discourage hiring and disproportionately burden smaller organisations. It's certainly clear that there has been a shift in favour of employees, with some businesses noticing staff feeling more entitled and trade unions already being emboldened.
Labour's position on this, whilst not unexpected, is interesting to reflect on – that good employers won't actually be hugely impacted by the changes, since they will already be doing the things that the ERB requires. While that may well be true, there's no doubt that employees who feel in a stronger position are more likely to challenge employers, not always reasonably. However, the sheer volume of changes, which might feel overwhelming, will be introduced in stages and it's likely to be at least 2027 before some of the changes come into force. Organisations do therefore have time to consider the proposals and likely impact on their operations, so that they can engage with employees as necessary, consult with stakeholders and consider management training. Do reach out to the team at Spencer West if you have queries which we can help with.
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