What's Happening With The Employment Rights Bill?

The Employment Rights Bill has hit choppy waters as the House of Lords has refused to back down over its various objections – including to "day one" unfair dismissal rights and the guaranteed hours scheme for zero and low hours workers. The government's flagship bill is not sunk, but it is far from plain sailing into port.

The Employment Rights Bill was expected to have become an Employment Rights Act long before now, but is currently stuck in parliament until the House of Lords and the House of Commons can agree on the final details.

On Tuesday evening, the House of Lords repeated its insistence on several key changes to the bill, including:

• a six-month qualifying period before employees can claim unfair dismissal (instead of the day one right not to be unfairly dismissed proposed by the government);
• an opt-out from the right to guaranteed hours for workers who want to stay on their existing zero/low hours contract;
• an explicit obligation on the government to take account of seasonal work when designing the guaranteed hours scheme for zero and low hours workers; and
• keeping the current 50% turnout requirement for industrial action ballots.

This is the second time the Lords have voted for changes along these lines. It's normal for the Lords to propose changes, but less normal to continue to insist on them after they have been rejected by the Commons. The Lords' refusal to accept day one unfair dismissal rights is particularly controversial, because this was clearly part of the Labour government's election manifesto. However, with the left-leaning Resolution Foundation recently calling for a re-think on day one unfair dismissal rights (or, as it called them, "day one frights" ) and the country facing a serious growth challenge, the Lords may be hoping that some compromise can be reached - especially as we get nearer to a difficult Autumn budget.

While employers do not generally want to see this bill implemented in a hurry, the delay means ongoing uncertainty. However, while employers might hope for compromises, they should still expect the bill to pass sooner or later. Most of its contents are agreed, and the government has already started consulting on some of its measures (including, for example, trade union rights of access and bereavement leave). To stay up to speed with what's in the bill, and all the latest developments, see our Employment Rights Bill dashboard which is kept constantly updated.