An Employer’s Guide
As of the 4th of September 2025, the Employment Rights Bill in the UK has been amended by the House of Lords following third reading.
In simple terms, for those who are not up on how the passing of bills in the UK works, this means that it only must go through an amendments phase (if applicable), and then it needs to go to Royal Assent to be passed.
This bill represents the largest change in employment law in the UK and, if you are an employer or employee, this will change the way you work in the UK forever.
So, what’s in this bill, and how does it currently aim to change the workplace?
Why Did This Bill Come About?
Before that, though, if you are a new employer, you may be curious as to how this bill came about.
In the UK, many people were concerned about the rise in insecure work. There was an increase in zero-hour contracts and ‘gig’ work, which left many people with unpredictable hours and unstable pay, leading to a lot of workers feeling insecure.
Then, back in 2020 during the pandemic, the insecure contracts or low incomes were highlighted to a larger extent, with many people having no access to sick pay and being exposed to risks.
This bill sought to change that, and, if it comes into effect, which is highly likely at this stage, companies across the country will need to rewrite their employer/employee policies. For small to medium-sized businesses, it is advised to seek the help of external sources to rewrite these policies in line with mandated changes, so, if that applies to your business, you can contact an external HR department like the HR Dept to ensure all of your business changes are legally binding.
What Does The Bill Change?
The Employment Rights Bill seeks to change a lot of areas in employment law in the UK, with a primary focus on the following-
- Day one rights for all staff
- Unfair dismissal
- Statutory sick pay
- Zero hours and guaranteed working hours
- Flexible working
- Parental leave
- Bereavement leave
- Harassment protections
- Trade Unions
That’s a lot to overhaul, so if you are a small or medium-sized business owner, here is what is being proposed.
Day one Rights for All Staff
For many people, when they applied to a new job, they would need to pass their probation period and work for so long in the position before they got access to bereavement leave, sick pay, and so on. The key thing that this bill wants to introduce is the removal of those time limits and rolling out access to leave and sick pay from day one.
Unfair Dismissal
The bill wants to remove the current two-year qualifying period that applies in most workplaces for unfair dismissals. There may or may not still be a probation period that is allowed for employers, where they can dismiss a staff member without a written warning.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
The removal of waiting days to get access to statutory sick pay or SSP, and expanding eligibility for SSP across all income brackets.
Zero Hours and Guaranteed Working
The bill seeks to ban all zero-hour contracts and requires staff to have a reasonable notice of their shifts.
Flexible Working
Employers need to make flexible working arrangements the default where possible and must provide legitimate reasons if they cannot. Failure to do so may result in a large fine.
Parental Leave
Parents will be given access to parental leave from day one of working with a new company, and new rights around pregnancy and maternity leave.
Bereavement Leave
This bill seeks to expand what is determined to match the definition of bereavement leave and aims to remove restrictions on how long a staff member needs to have been working for them to use this leave.
Harassment Protections
There will be stronger obligations on employers to prevent their staff from being harassed in the workplace. This includes harassment from parties like customers, clients, and, of course, other staff members.
Trade Unions
Many fast-food chains in the UK do not allow their workers access to trade unions and ban them from forming them, with threats of termination. In 2025, in the UK, this is nothing short of shocking. The Bill seeks to make it easier for workers across the board to form trade unions and aims to impose fines for businesses of all sizes that prevent this right.
The Employment Rights Bill is highly likely to become law, so if you are a business owner or an employer, now is the time to get digging and see how these changes will impact your business.
