Government launches first major wave of ERB consultations

The Government has launched four new consultations on the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill. They relate to the following new rights:

• The duty to inform workers of the right to join a trade union
• Workplace access rights for trade unions
• Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
• Leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss

Duty to inform workers of right to join trade union

The Employment Rights Bill will introduce a new duty on employers to give a written statement to their workers, informing them of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment and at other times.
This consultation states that it is “seeking views on how this new duty can be implemented effectively while minimising the burden on employers”.

While other views are being canvassed, the Government believes that the statement should be standardised for all employers and should be delivered alongside the written particulars of employment. After that it should be reissued annually.

Consultation closes on 18 December 2025 and the Government plans to implement this new right in October 2026.

Trade unions’ right of access to the workplace

The ERB establishes a new framework for unions to obtain workplace access agreements with employers. According to the consultation, the Bill includes 25 separate regulation-making powers setting out the detail of how this new process will work.
The consultation explains as follows:

We’re seeking your insights on how unions should request access and how employers ought to respond. We’re keen to understand the factors at play when determining whether access should be granted and on what terms. This consultation also asks for your views on how fines should be set for non-compliance. 

It adds:

We are clear that we want these changes to take effect by October 2026. That will afford all parties proper time to prepare. And to support that effort, we will be consulting on a new statutory Code of Practice in the spring with practical guidance for both unions and employers.
We welcome views from employers, unions, workers and the public in helping us create a clear, balanced framework which works for all.
Consultation closes on 18 December 2025. These measures are due to be implemented in October 2026.

New rights for pregnant women and new mothers

This consultation is seeking views on:

• the specific circumstances in which the dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers should still be allowed
• when the protections should start and end
• whether other new parents should be covered by the protections

The consultation asks whether a new general test for fairness of these dismissals should be introduced, or whether some or all of the potentially fair reasons for dismissal should be narrowed or removed in this situation. 

It states that it would be most “straightforward” for protection to start when an employee informs her employer she is pregnant. It also says that the most “recognisable” approach for employees and employers would be for the post-pregnancy ‘window’ to continue the approach in the adopted for the new enhanced redundancy protections which were introduced in 2023/4.

Finally, it addresses the issue of whether these new protections should also cover other parents besides pregnant women and women who have taken maternity leave. The Government is considering adoption leave, shared parental leave and neonatal care leave as part of this enhanced protection, but not paternity leave.

The consultation closes 15 January 2026. These measures are due to be implemented in 2027.

Bereavement leave

The Employment Rights Bill introduces a new day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

This consultation seeks views on:

• eligibility criteria
• types of pregnancy loss in scope
• when and how bereavement leave can be taken
• notice and evidence requirements

The Government appears to be relatively open minded about how to define eligibility and how the leave can be taken. It seems likely that it will be for a maximum period of two weeks.

Consultation closes on 15 January 2026. No target date for implementation has been announced.

What consultations are still to come?

The short answer is that these four new consultations are just the beginning, and many more are expected.

The implementation roadmap, published in July, envisages three phases of consultation. These four new consultations fall within the second wave, due in the autumn of 2026. Other consultations expected in this wave will address the new measures on fire and re-hire and the new protections for workers on zero hours contracts.

One of the most eagerly awaited consultations relates to the implementation of new day 1 unfair dismissal rights in the ERB. This was due to appear in the fist wave of consultations, timed for “summer/autumn 2025”, and so could now be regarded as overdue.