CIPD urges UK Government to consult more thoroughly with employers on Employment Rights Bill

Today the CIPD’s Head of Public Policy, Ben Willmott, gave evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee on the Employment Rights Bill.  

In advance of the session, we called on the Government to consult more thoroughly with employers to ensure that upcoming changes to employment law don’t harm organisations or workers. These include proposals to: 

• Change the rules around collective redundancies, which could have a significant impact on larger organisations. 

• Make it illegal to dismiss an employee for refusing to agree to a variation of their contract, which could lead to more redundancies from organisations in financial difficulties. 

• Implement new rights for zero- and low-hours workers to agency workers. 

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.  

Pushing for in-depth consultation and guidance in 2025 

Looking ahead to 2025, we raised concerns with the Committee about other complex proposals which will need in-depth consultation with employers, such as: 

• A statutory 9-month probation period in place of the existing unfair dismissal qualifying period. 

• A qualifying period for zero- and low-hours workers to have a contract that reflects the hours they normally work, which is expected to be as short as 12 weeks. 

• Changes to the rules on statutory union recognition. 

While there is much in the Bill that the CIPD and our members support, there is also a lot to take in. We encouraged the Government to provide timely information, advice, and guidance to help organisations and the people profession understand and comply with changes to the law. Smaller businesses, that don’t have dedicated HR expertise, will especially need that guidance to work through the changes and ensure the right outcomes.  

What you can expect from the CIPD 

As your professional body, we’re here to help you understand how the Employment Rights Bill impacts your work and support you to maintain your expertise and credibility through a range of resources, including:   

• Member-exclusive tracker with the latest employment law changes and advice on how to prepare.  

• ‘Focus on Make Work Pay’ page with all the latest developments.  

• Response and comment in our People Management Magazine.  

• Regular updates to our content, as and when there are developments. 

• More opportunities to feed your views into government consultations.