Employment Rights Bill fails to pass again

The Employment Rights Bill has failed to pass yet again after it was debated in the House of Lords on Monday 17 November. The Lords have now sent the Bill back to the House of Commons for further consideration of a few final points where they disagree with the Government’s approach, with the Bill scheduled to be heard on 8 December.

 

Areas of conflict 

There are various areas of disagreement, but the key issues are:

Day-one rights 

The Bill reflects the Government’s manifesto promise to introduce a day-one right for employees to bring an unfair dismissal claim (although this is subject to a ‘lighter touch’ dismissal process within a probationary period). This is a significant shift from the current qualifying period of two years.

However, the Lords are concerned that this would make employers more reluctant to take on new employees, particularly young employees or those returning to the workforce after a break, as the risks of making a recruitment mistake will be much higher. They are therefore still advocating for a six-month service period before employees can bring an unfair dismissal claim.

Zero-hours contracts 

Another key area of disagreement is around the Lord’s amendment which would allow zero-hours workers to be able to opt-out of having to be offered repeated guaranteed hours contracts if they have refused the opportunity to be offered it once ( with the ability to opt in at a later date). As it stands, the Bill requires employers to continue to offer a guaranteed hours contract every time there has been a certain pattern of work over a relevant period (likely to be 12 weeks) despite it having been refused previously. The Lords are concerned that this places an unreasonable administrative burden on employers, especially small businesses.

The Lords’ concerns are fuelled by the fact that the Bill contains very little detail on how these new rights will operate in practice. The Business Secretary Peter Kyle told the CBI earlier this week that the Government would be launching 26 consultations once the Bill has passed to ensure the needs of business are taken into account before the finer details of the rules are finalised and the Government would do “what it takes” to get the Bill over the line and into law.

 

Stay updated with Citation 

It’s difficult to know how long this ‘ping pong’ between the two Parliamentary Houses will go on for, but we are keeping a close eye on developments and will be sending out a comprehensive guide to the Bill as soon as it passes.

For advice or guidance regarding what we know so far, give us a call on 0345 844 4848.