UK employers fear additional costs under the Employment Rights Bill

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The UK’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has urged the government to prioritise an implementation plan for the Employment Rights Bill amid concerns by businesses that they face additional costs under the proposed law.

According to a CIPD survey of more than 2,000 employers, 79% of respondents expect that hundreds of amendments made to the bill earlier this week will increase employment costs.

The amendments, recommended by the Business and Trade committee, include changes to unfair dismissal rules, statutory sick pay reforms and the right to guaranteed hours for employees on zero-hour contracts.

“The success of the bill depends on effective consultation, a clear implementation plan, appropriate support and proper enforcement,” Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD, said in a statement.

“Without this, there is a risk that new laws, which the government hopes will improve working lives, could have the unintended consequences of undermining job creation and efforts to boost labour market participation and growth.”

The Employment Rights Bill is part of the Labour government’s wider Make Work Pay plan that aims to overhaul the UK’s employment law in what it describes as the “biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.”

Among the survey respondents, 30% said they would manage the additional costs by reducing the number of employees through redundancies or recruiting fewer workers,...

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