The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)
The Government convened a series of constructive conversations between trade unions and business representatives. On the basis of the outcome of these discussions, the Government will now move forward on the issue of unfair dismissal protections in the Employment Rights Bill to ensure it can reach Royal Assent and keep to the Government’s published delivery timeline.
This will mean delivering day one rights to sick pay and paternity leave in April 2026 as well as launching the fair work agency. Reforms to benefit millions of working people, including some of the lowest paid workers, would otherwise be significantly delayed if the Bill does not reach Royal Assent in line with our delivery timetable. Businesses too need time to prepare for what are a series of significant changes.
The discussions concluded that reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from 24 months to 6 months—whilst maintaining existing day one protection against discrimination and automatically unfair grounds for dismissal—is a workable package. It will benefit millions of working people who will gain new rights and offer business and employers much needed clarity. To further strengthen these protections, the Government have committed to ensure that the unfair dismissal qualifying period can only be varied by primary legislation and that the compensation cap will be lifted.
As a result of these constructive conversations, we have agreed a way forward with trade unions and business representatives who agree that the Bill should progress to Royal Assent as soon as possible. We will table the necessary amendments to deliver the Bill. Furthermore, the Government have reiterated their commitment to full, fair and transparent consultation on the detail and application of the secondary legislation as they move to implement the Bill. This will enable the Government to deliver the necessary consultations and implementation in line with their timetable and manifesto commitments to make work pay.
We will not build a robust and growing economy through employment insecurity. Instead, we are building an economy based on fair competition between businesses, greater productivity in the workplace, job security for workers, and fair reward for hard work. Once implemented, these important and popular reforms will give long overdue new rights to working people, including:
Ending exploitative zero-hours contracts that leave some workers unable to plan their working lives or manage their family finances, saving them up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work;
Establishing bereavement leave as a day one entitlement and extending it to those who lose a pregnancy before 24 weeks, giving the hundreds of thousands of families affected each year the recognition and protections they deserve;
Supporting working parents to juggle the competing demands of work and raising children, including the 32,000 fathers and partners per year who are not entitled to paternity leave and the 1.5 million parents who are not allowed to take unpaid parental leave;
Helping more working mothers stay in their jobs, including the 4,000 women who are unfairly sacked each year when returning from maternity leave;
Guaranteeing workers get paid when they have to take time off because of illness and expanding statutory sick pay to up to 1.3 million of the most vulnerable workers in society who currently earn below the lower earnings limit;
Reinstating the school support staff negotiating body to improve pay and conditions for up to 800,000 school support staff in England;
Providing for the establishment of a fair pay agreements process in the adult social care sector in England and social care sectors in Scotland and Wales; and
Creating a single point of contact for advice and help for businesses and employees—the fair work agency—to ensure better understanding of people’s rights at work, ensure best practice for implementing employment law, and tackle the unfair competition that some bad employers use to beat their competitors.
The Government were pleased to facilitate these discussions and to set an example of the benefits of working together, and remain committed to continue engaging with trade unions, business and employers to make working lives better, support businesses and, vitally, deliver economic growth and good job creation. The Government are particularly aware of the need to support small businesses in the effective adoption of these changes. Constructive dialogue and full consultation with business, employers and unions will continue beyond the passage of the Bill.
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