There is a growing demand from the trade union movement for a second Employment Rights Bill. Many trade union leaders have pointed out that the Employment Rights Act 2025 (which passed in December) has left out a lot that should have been included. This requires a second Employment Rights Bill.
The Labour Party had set out an outline of what the 2025 legislation would incorporate in a Green Paper called A New Deal for Working People in 2021. Endorsed by Conference that year it was widely proclaimed thereafter by Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner as the blueprint for the legislation to be introduced if Labour won the next election. Just before the election, Labour’s Plan to make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People was published, emphasising that the New Deal ‘is our plan to make work pay.’
At the election on 4 July 2024 Labour won with a majority of 174 over all other parties combined. This should have ensured that every commitment in the New Deal would be translated into legislation. But somehow the promises got watered down. We may never know why or by whom but, whatever the reasons, we now need to put back what was taken out.
Four things stand out.
First of all, the Act does not, as the New Deal promised, create a single legal status of ‘worker’ (i.e. everyone who works for someone else and is not genuinely in business on their own account will be entitled to all statutory employment rights). The government has said it will consult over this but no dates...
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