Labour's New Deal for Working People

And it has only just begun...

On 10 October 2024, the Government published the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) 2024-2025, promised within the first 100 days of the new Parliament with reforms including measures on 'exploitative' zero-hours contracts and 'fire and rehire' practices, and establishing protection from unfair dismissal, as well as entitlement to sick pay and parental leave rights from day one of employment. The scope and significance of the 330-page Bill should not be underestimated.

Translating the Government's proposed measures into reality will and is taking considerably longer than the "first 100 days" pledge. The ERB is nearing the end of its journey through Parliament (currently expected early November 2025). However, implementing the majority of the ERB's vast and complex provisions will take some time yet. Essential detail for many of the provisions is subject to further consultation with several of the ERB's provisions not now expected to come into force until sometime in 2027.

*Denotes updated section

Progress of the ERB through Parliament*

The ERB competed the House of Lords stage on 3 September. On 15 September the House of Commons rejected all of the Lord's opposition amendments. The Commons have tabled two minor further amendments:

  • proposing an alternative to the rejected Lord's amendment regarding 'time off for public duties'; and
  • correcting the earlier Government's amendment introducing a non-disclosure agreement clause so that the definition of discrimination claims includes disability 'reasonable adjustments' claims.

The ERB now goes back to the House of Lords as it enters the ping-pong stage in which the ERB may move backwards and forwards between the two Houses a number of times before agreement is reached. It is likely that Government will get it's way over the rejection of the House of Lords amendments.

The ERB has not made it into law before Parliament's conference season recess which runs from 16 September until 13 October 2025. Despite the recent Government reshuffle resulting in three of the Bill's biggest supporters no longer sitting in cabinet - Angela Rayner MP, Justin Madders, MP and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch – the Government is still pressing ahead, rejecting opposition amendments. The Bill will now be considered once again by the House of Lords on 28 October 2025, for them to agree (highly likely) or disagree (highly unlikely) with those rejections. This now suggests Royal Assent in early November. But as for the provisions coming into force…

When will the ERB's provisions come into force?*

On 2 July 2025, the Government published its Implementation Roadmap for the ERB, setting out a phased delivery plan for the extensive upcoming employment law changes. The vast majority of the ERB's provisions will not come into effect upon its passage into law. The majority of the ERB's provisions are enabling provisions with much needed detail on how they will actually work being left to future implementing regulations, Codes of Practice and guidance requiring further consultation.

When the ERB was published in October 2024, the Government stated that the majority of the changes would not be brought into force before 2026 with the changes to unfair dismissal qualifying periods not before autumn 2026. That has now slipped with a significant number of measures not coming into force before sometime in 2027, most notably including, changes to zero-hour contracts, collective redundancy thresholds and 'day 1' unfair dismissal rights. See below the stated Phased Consultation Timeline and the Implementation Timeline or click here for wall chart.

Beyond the Employment Rights Bill

In November 2024, the Government published the 'Next Steps to Make Work Pay', outlining the time frame for the reforms set out in the Bill, as well as detailing additional reforms it will look to implement in the future, including:

  • Mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gaps: On 18 March 2025, a consultation on the proposed mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting provisions to be included in the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill was published – see below.
  • A ‘right to switch off' Code of Practice: In March 2025, the Government confirmed this was now shelved.
  • Reviews of the parental/carers leave systems: On 1 July 2025, the Government launched a comprehensive review of all parental leave and pay rights, which will run for 18 months before suggesting further changes to law and policy. It has also issued a call for further evidence which closes on 15 August 2025 – see below.
  • A move towards a simpler two-part framework for employment status: worker or self-employed: The Government has stated that an employment status consultation would be published “by the end of this [2025] year.”

Our employment law tracker

In this tracker, we explore the Employment Rights Bill 2024-25 together with other proposed and recent reforms under the Labour Government keeping a close eye on legislative, consultation and political process and provide a continuous update on what is likely to happen and when, and what this will mean for you as an employer.

Be sure to bookmark this web page to see our regular updates on the latest developments.

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This content is correct and up to date as of 25 September 2025.

We will continue to provide updated on this page when new developments occur. For ease of reference, we have marked recently updated sections with an asterisk.

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