After several rounds of back and forth within Parliament on several outstanding issues, yesterday the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) received the approval of the House of Lords, and will now pass into law.
As we discussed in our recent article, debate has been ongoing on several key issues at the heart of the ERB. These were most notably in relation to the Government’s proposal to make protection from unfair dismissal a day-one right for employees.
In the wake of continued opposition from within Parliament and beyond, and in the hope of getting the Bill “over the line”, the Government backtracked on this proposal and instead replaced it with a 6-month qualifying period.
As a last minute surprise to many, however, they also proposed to remove the compensation cap for unfair dismissal claims, in a move that caused further unease.
However, yesterday (16 December), the House of Lords backed-down on insisting that this new proposal be reconsidered – clearing the way for the Bill to move forward and receive Royal Assent before Christmas.
It is expected that the ERB will now quickly progress (possibly within a matter of days) to receive Royal Assent and so pass into law as the Employment Rights Act 2025.
It is not yet clear if there will be any further consultation on the unfair dismissal protections. However, the Government has committed to publishing an impact assessment on the anticipated impact of removing the compensation cap on unfair dismissal claims.
The 6-month...
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