The employment rights bill has officially become law, receiving Royal Assent on 18 December 2025.
Now known as the Employment Rights Act 2025, the new legislation comes after a lengthy parliamentary journey.
As Facilitate has reported throughout the year, the bill’s passage was protracted, largely due to sustained resistance in the House of Lords, with amendments repeatedly forcing the legislation back to the Commons in parliamentary ‘ping-pong’, delaying progress and raising the prospect that it could even fall altogether.
The final obstacle was removed when Conservative peer Lord Sharpe withdrew a last-ditch amendment during the bill’s concluding Lords’ debate, allowing it to pass unopposed ahead of Christmas.
The new act delivers what ministers have described as the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, including:
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called it “a landmark day for millions of workers”, while GMB’s Gary Smith described it as “the biggest step forward for workers’ rights in 50 years”.
Commentators from across the labour market weighed in on the news.
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