The Government has responded to a series of consultations on its Employments Rights Bill and tabled a number of amendments as the Bill completed the latest stage of its progress through Parliament.

We have previously commented on the Bill and the consultations on some of its key provisions here. We consider each of the responses in turn below.

Strengthening Sick Pay

In line with the Government’s commitment to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”), one of the provisions of the Employment Rights Bill would see the extension of eligibility for SSP to those earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (currently £123 per week). In such cases, the rate of SSP would be calculated as a percentage of the employees’ earnings instead of being a flat weekly rate.

The consultation sought views on what this percentage should be, and the Government has concluded that the rate will be set at 80% of normal weekly earnings, which will apply where 80% of an employee’s normal weekly earnings is less than the flat rate. According to its response, this “strikes the right balance between providing financial security to employees who need it, whilst limiting additional costs to businesses“.

To read the Government response in full, click here.

Industrial Relations

The Government’s stated ambition is to create “a positive and modern framework for trade union legislation that delivers productive and constructive engagement, respects the democratic mandate of unions, and works to reset our industrial relations”. To that end, the consultation sought views on a range of matters including: simplifying the amount of information unions are required to provide in industrial action notices; strengthening provisions to prevent unfair practices during the trade union recognition process; securing a mandate for negotiation and dispute resolution; and reducing the industrial action notice period.

In its response, the Government reiterated its plan to “update the legislative framework in which trade unions operate aligning it with modern work practices, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity and ensuring industrial relations are underpinned by collaboration, proportionality, accountability, and a system that balances the interests of workers, businesses and the wider public”.

In particular, the Government has confirmed that it will take action in the following areas:

• Improving the process and transparency around trade union recognition, including streamlining the recognition process and strengthening protections against unfair practices;

• Extending access provisions to cover digital access, ensuring that processes are “proportionate and effective by introducing a fast-track route for achieving an access agreement where certain conditions are met, alongside a mechanism to ensure there are appropriate penalties in place for non-compliance”;

• Abolishing the ten year requirement for unions to ballot their members on the maintenance of a political fund;

• Simplifying the current information requirements on industrial action ballots and notices to employers;

• Reducing the notice period for industrial action to ten days;

• Introducing e-balloting; and

• Extending the expiry of a mandate for industrial action from six to twel

To read the Government response in full, click here.

Zero Hours Contracts and Agency Workers

The consultation sought view on how the Government’s plans to “tackle one-sided flexibility in zero hours contracts” would apply to agency workers, noting the added complexity as a result of the tripartite relationship between the agency worker, the agency, and the end hirer.

The Government response addresses these complexities and concludes as follows:

• End hirers will be responsible for making offers of guaranteed hours to qualifying agency workers;
• Both the employment agency and the end hirer will be responsible for providing a qualifying agency worker with reasonable notice of shifts;
• Employment agencies will be responsible for paying any short notice cancellation or curtailment payments to agency workers;
• Agencies will be able to recoup from the end hirer the cost of any short notice cancellation, movement or curtailment payments where arrangements have been made more than two months before the Bill is passed. For later arrangements, the agency and end hirer can negotiate whether short notice cancellation, movement or curtailment payments can be recouped from the hirer.

To read the Government response in full, click here.

Collective Redundancy and Fire and Rehire

The consultation sought views on the Government’s proposal to increase the amount of the protective award either by (a) increasing the maximum amount awarded to 180 days’ pay or (b) removing the cap on the protective award entirely and leaving it to the discretion of the employment tribunal to decide what penalty to impose on the employer. It also asked whether interim relief should be available to employees who bring claims for the protective award.

The Government has concluded that it will increase the maximum protective award from 90 to 180 days, meaning that an employment tribunal could uplift compensation by up to 45 days’ pay if an employer fails to comply with the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Reengagement.

On the question of interim relief, the Government has decided not to make it available, explaining that “given the implementation issues raised in relation to interim relief by respondents, for example the short deadline for application, we do not currently believe that interim relief would be an effective remedy to strengthen compliance or deliver additional benefits”.

Looking further ahead, the Government will issue guidance on consultation processes for collective redundancies and gather views both on strengthening the collective redundancy framework and on updating the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement.

To read the Government response in full, click here.

The Bill has now completed its progress in the House of Commons and its second reading in the House of Lords is on 27 March 2025.