Employment Rights Bill proposals need meaningful consultation to avoid unintended consequences for both employers and workers

The CIPD is urging the UK Government to consult thoroughly with employers to ensure that proposed changes to employment law don’t negatively impact organisations or workers. 

Ahead of its appearance at an evidence session on the Employment Rights Bill today (17 December), the CIPD is calling for meaningful consultation with employers on all major reforms as more details emerge on key measures in 2025. 

As it presents evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee, the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, is highlighting concerns that some significant proposed changes to legislation are being taken forward without proper consultation.  

These include: 

• The proposal to end the single establishment rule for collective redundancies. This will have far reaching consequences for larger firms and is likely to mean many will be in a fairly continual state of collective consultation over redundancies.  
• Making it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to agree to a variation of their terms and conditions of employment, which could lead to more firms in dire financial straits having to make redundancies.  
• The decision not to consult on whether new rights for zero- and low-hours workers should apply to agency workers and consult only on how they should apply. 

The CIPD is calling on the government to ensure there is meaningful engagement with employers on all aspects of the Bill as more details emerge in further consultations and secondary legislation. 

Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy at the CIPD said:

“The Employment Rights Bill will have major implications for all employers in Britain. The CIPD supports many of the aims of this Bill and wants to see genuine consultation across all the reforms being put forward. That may mean there will be a need for potential changes and refinements to policy on certain measures.” 

“The government must consider the impact of employment reforms holistically rather than as individual legislative changes. There also needs to be a strong focus on providing information, advice and guidance to help organisations – particularly SMEs – to be ready for changes to the law, as many micro and small firms won’t have access to dedicated HR support and will be at most risk of non-compliance. 

“There are areas that require detailed discussion going forward due to their complexity and potential impact on organisations. Meaningful consultation with employers and business bodies will ensure the government is upholding its four principles of modern industrial relations – collaboration, proportionality, accountability and balancing the interests of workers, business and the wider public.” 

Key measures that will require detailed input from employers to ensure they are workable include: 

• The proposed new statutory probation period. A CIPD survey found that more than a third (36%) of employers said the removal of the unfair dismissal qualifying period would make managing new starters’ performance more difficult; a quarter (25%) said it would make their organisation more reluctant to hire new people; and 25% said it would increase tribunal claims. To avoid these negative effects, procedures for dismissing staff during the statutory probation period will need to be as simple as possible for managers to apply in practice to avoid disputes over process. 
• The reference period framing the new right for zero- and low- hours workers to have a contract that reflects the hours they normally work, currently expected to be as short as 12 weeks. 
• Planned changes to rules on statutory union recognition, including reducing the current threshold for 10% of the relevant bargaining unit to be union members down to 2%.