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Yesterday, the Government announced that it had backed down on its plan to introduce Day 1 unfair dismissal rights. This comes following significant push back from the House of Lords in parliamentary debate and discussions with key business stakeholders.
Earlier this week (17 November) the House of Lords again rejected amendments which the Commons reinstated in the Bill earlier this month, potentially delaying the Government’s implementation timetable.
Last night (5 November) the House of Commons rejected the latest Lords’ amendments to the Bill). However, they have made some concessions, in the hope of persuading the Lords to back down when the Bill returns to them for the third time.
Today, 5th November, employment lawyers are watching Parliament with bated breath as the House of Commons considers the latest amendments to the landmark Employment Rights Bill.
On 28th October, the House of Lords declined to accept all the amendments to the Bill passed in the Commons last month. That means that the Bill failed to complete the final step in the Parliamentary process, and "ping pong" continues.
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, and leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss.
On 15 September, the House of Commons reviewed the Lords’ proposed changes to the Employment Rights Bill. As anticipated, all non-Government amendments were rejected primarily because they conflicted with Labour’s manifesto pledges on employment rights.
The Government faced temporary setbacks from opposition and crossbench amendments during the Employment Rights Bill’s report stage, which concluded on 23 July in the House of Lords.
As some may recall, back in 2005 the last Labour Government brought in what became known as the “Two-Tier Code.” The Code was designed to prevent disparity in employment conditions between ex-public sector staff transferring in under TUPE and existing private sector staff working on the same outsourced contract.
The Government has now set out its plans for implementing the Employment Rights Bill. It has also confirmed when we can expect to see pre-implementation consultation.