How will it affect you?

A major change in workers’ rights is on the way, but the government has made a U-turn on some reforms and it is still unclear how other proposals will work in practice.

The government has said that the measures in the Employment Rights Bill are “the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”.

However, some business groups have expressed concerns over the plans, while others have argued that the government has watered down or delayed some elements to keep both employers and employees happy.

The government has argued that it made the changes to its proposed law to avoid delays in implementation, with some changes taking effect in April 2026 before being implemented in subsequent years.

The bill – which applies to England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where employment law is devolved – basically declared workers would have the right to make a claim for unfair dismissal against their employer from day one.

This was a major change from the existing two-year eligibility period and faced strong opposition from many business groups.

After consultation, the government announced that it would now take over after six months instead.

This U-turn is a breach of Labour’s election manifesto commitment to give all workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from their first day on the job.

The government said changes to its bill made it a “viable package”.

It says day one protections against discrimination will remain in place and other new rights to sick pay and paternity leave will still be in place, coming into effect in April 2026.

The reforms originally outlined that workers would be subject to a nine-month probationary period, during which employers could fire someone more easily and without a full procedure, but such proposals may change after consultation.

Zero-hour contracts are also known as contingent contracts. Workers do not receive guaranteed hours from employers, but they are also not required to work when asked.

Under the new law, company owners will be required to offer zero-hours workers a guaranteed-hours contract based on the hours they work during a 12-week period.

Employees who prefer zero-hours contracts will be able to remain on those terms if they wish – the change is that they will have the right to guaranteed working hours if they want.

Employees working on zero-hours contracts will also be entitled to “reasonable” notice before any changes are made to their shift, as well as compensation if shifts are canceled or ended early.

Flexible working would become the “default” for all workers, with employers required to say yes to staff requests from the first day they start a job, unless they can prove it is “unreasonable”.

The government defines flexible working as a way of working “suited to the employee’s needs”, for example, flexible start and end times, or working from home.

Employees can request to work flexibly from their first day on the job, but an employer can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so.

It is unclear whether there will be any major changes to the existing rules and the new bill leaves a number of reasons available to employers to refuse flexible working.

Grounds against granting the request include:

• additional cost burden
• Detrimental impact on ability to meet customer demand
• Inability to rearrange work among existing employees
• Inability to recruit additional staff
• adverse effect on quality

The waiting period and lower income limit for receiving statutory sick pay will be removed.

Under government schemes, around 1.3 million low-paid workers in the UK are entitled to receive 80% of their weekly wages as sick pay from the first day of illness.

Currently, to qualify for sick pay, you have to be sick for more than three consecutive days and earn an average of at least £123 per week.

Under the plans, workers will be entitled to statutory sick pay from the first day they are off sick and those earning less than £123 a week will also be eligible.

If you are too sick to work and are paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks, you can receive statutory sick pay of £116.75 per week. Some may get more if their company has a sick pay plan.

Parents are currently only allowed to take unpaid parental leave if they have been with a company for more than a year. The government plans to change this to make employment a right from “day one”.

The same will apply for bereavement leave.

Any person legally classified as an employee has the right to take leave upon the death of a dependent.

A dependent may be:

• Husband
• Wife
• civil partner or partners
• Child
• Parents
• A person who lives in their home (not a tenant, tenant, or employee)
• a person they trust, such as an elderly neighbor

If a business needs to cut costs, it may try to change the terms and conditions of its employees, for example by cutting salaries or changing shift patterns.

If employees do not agree, the employer can fire the affected workers and hire them back on worse terms and conditions.

The new bill bans such fire and rehiring practices in most circumstances, but it can still be used if a company is at risk of bankruptcy.

Some measures included in Labour’s “pay for work” plan released before the general election are not included in the Employment Rights Bill.

For example, the “right to switch off” – preventing employers from contacting employees out of hours by phone, email and text – has been abolished.

The commitment to create a “single status of employee” is also not in the Bill. It aims to increase protection for people who are classified as self-employed, but work largely for one employer, but have fewer rights than other employees.

It is understood that legal complications mean this will have to be reconsidered later.