HR Teams Prepare for Day-One Rights by Updating Probation and Dismissal Processes

November 21, 2025November 21, 2025 admin Legislation

HR teams are proactively updating their probation periods and dismissal policies in preparation for the introduction of day-one unfair dismissal rights under the new Employment Rights Bill.

While the bill is still progressing through parliament, a survey from WorkNest and Personnel Today shows that organisations are not waiting to begin their preparations. The research found that more than a third (37%) of HR professionals plan to change their probation periods, and a further 32% are reviewing or updating their dismissal policies ahead of the reforms.

Consult and Deliver: Shaping the Future of UK Employment Rights

November 15, 2025February 22, 2026 admin Legislation, Reforms, Unions

The landmark Employment Rights Bill (ERB) is set to transform the UK workplace, and the Government is now moving to the crucial implementation phase. To ensure these reforms are both practical and effective, a first series of four consultations has been launched, inviting stakeholders to help shape the final regulations.

While the Bill establishes the core principles, the consultations will define the details. A central theme is enhancing security and support for employees during life's most vulnerable moments. This includes significantly stronger protections for pregnant employees and new mothers, who will benefit from an expanded protected period and the classification of maternity as a protected characteristic. The consultation explores applying a stricter test for fairness, potentially making dismissal permissible only in cases of serious safety risks or gross misconduct. There is also consideration of extending these robust protections to parents returning from adoption leave.

Billionaire Backlash: John Caudwell Lobbies Labour to Scrap Landmark Workers’ Rights Protections

November 9, 2025March 7, 2026 admin Legislation

Phones 4U founder, worth £1.5bn, claims basic job security and sick pay would make Britain "less investable," exposing a stark divide between corporate interests and employee wellbeing.

In a move that has ignited fury among labour advocates, billionaire Tory-turned-Labour backer John Caudwell is publicly pressuring Sir Keir Starmer to abandon the party's flagship Employment Rights Bill. The Phones 4U founder, whose fortune is estimated at £1.5bn, has voiced alarm that granting fundamental protections to employees would make the UK “less investable.”

Unelected Lords Side with Bosses in Battle Over Workers’ Rights

November 2, 2025January 16, 2026 admin Legislation

In a stark display of where their loyalties lie, the House of Lords has launched an offensive against core pillars of the government's proposed Employment Rights Bill. Their opposition targets fundamental reforms designed to tip the scales back towards working people, including a ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts, fairer rules for industrial action, and protecting the right for unions to have a political voice.

The bill is now set for a tense "ping pong" between the Commons and the Lords, a political tug-of-war that will determine whether the promise of a fairer workplace becomes reality or is watered down into meaninglessness.

Employment Rights Bill: Commons Rejects Lords Amendments in Workers’ Rights Battle

September 21, 2025January 27, 2026 admin Legislation, Reforms

Earlier this week, the Employment Rights Bill returned to the House of Commons for MPs to review Lords amendments, in the stage known as parliamentary “ping-pong.”

Peers had previously introduced a series of non-government amendments that sought to weaken the Bill, removing core reforms such as the ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts and restrictions on the controversial practice of fire and rehire. If successful, these changes would also have undermined new protections around unfair dismissal.