The latest on the Employment Rights Bill: further government amendments published

Updated amendment paper

We reported last week on a series of government-backed amendments to the Employment Rights Bill, which were published alongside responses to consultations on zero-hours contracts protection for agency workers, collective consultation remedies, trade union law, statutory sick pay, and the regulation of umbrella companies. 

On Friday afternoon, the Government published an updated amendment paper, setting out details of further government-backed amendments to the Bill. These latest amendments fall outside the scope of the recent consultations. 

What further changes have been proposed?

One of the key changes relates to the guaranteed hours provisions for zero hours workers. The updated amendment paper suggests that it will be possible to contract out of the requirement to offer guaranteed hours through a collective agreement. Employers and trade unions would therefore be able to negotiate alternative arrangements, provided that the new terms are contractual. This amendment introduces a degree of flexibility for employers that might otherwise have been required to offer guaranteed hours under the Bill’s original provisions.

Another significant change concerns the provisions on collective redundancy consultation. The original proposal to remove the words 'any one establishment' from the collective redundancy thresholds had raised concerns that collective consultation would be triggered whenever the total number of redundancies across a business reached 20 or more, regardless of whether each individual site was making fewer than 20 redundancies. The government has now altered this approach. The amended proposal reinstates the concept of 'one establishment' but introduces an additional provision allowing regulations to set a higher threshold (above 20) for situations where redundancies are taking place across multiple sites. This revision represents a concession to employers who had expressed concern about the potential administrative burden of the original proposal.

A further amendment introduces a new enforcement mechanism for underpayment of statutory entitlements. Under this proposal, the Secretary of State will have the power to issue a notice of underpayment covering a period of up to six years where an employer has failed to pay a worker an amount due under certain legislation, such as the National Minimum Wage or statutory sick pay. The notice would require the employer to pay the outstanding amount, reinforcing existing compliance measures.

The Government’s latest amendments refine and, in some areas, soften the original proposals, particularly in relation to collective consultation thresholds and guaranteed hours requirements. We will continue to monitor developments as the Bill progresses through Parliament and provide updates on further changes.

For more information or advice, please contact Jessica Scott-Dye on in our Employment team on 07799 901 428, or complete the form below.