Employment Rights Bill – the latest in the journey
Stephanie Pote · Posted on: October 29th 2025 · read
The Employment Rights Bill returned to the House of Commons on 15 September with MPs largely rejecting the amendments to the bill proposed by the House of Lords. The Lords do, however, continue to push for a six month qualifying period for Unfair Dismissal rather than day one Unfair Dismissal rights so the Bill will return yet again to the Commons for further debate. Additionally, the Lords have proposed an amendment to the right for zero hours workers to be given guaranteed hours such that they will have the option to opt-out of subsequent reviews and guaranteed hours offers.
Once the final provisions have been agreed, the next step will be for the Bill to return to the Lords once again, after which it will receive Royal Assent. The following legislative changes will then be the first ones to come into force:
Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
The Act was introduced to give employers in Important Public Services (IPS) i.e. health, fire and rescue, border control, education, transport and nuclear decommission the power to issue ‘work notices’ to some employees during strike action, requiring them to continue to work such that minimum service levels could be maintained.
What does this mean for you?
This is unlikely to have much of an effect because the use of work notices has not been widely adopted. In addition, it obviously only affects the key industries concerned.
Simplification of ballot thresholds
In order to make ballots easier to organise, the requirement for a 50% turnout of those eligible to vote will be removed and replaced with a simple majority. Similarly, for IPS, the 50% minimum turnout and the threshold of 40% of those voting being in favour of strike action will be removed, again being replaced with a simple majority of those turning out voting in favour.
What does this mean for you?
Employers need to be aware that industrial action could be voted for by a significant minority of those in the bargaining unit.
Reduction in strike notice periods from 14 to 10 days
The Government believes that a reduced period of 10 days’ notice of strike action to employers will permit employers to respect workers’ right to strike whilst still giving them time to plan how to mitigate the impact of industrial action.
What does this mean for you?
Employers will have less time to plan around industrial action, so will need to have processes in place to deal with rota and shift changes, site security, and any payroll amendments within a 10-day window.
Simplification of ballot papers and strike notices
The additional balloting threshold pertaining to IPS of 40% of those voting being in favour of industrial action will be removed, therefore the requirement to inform members of whether this threshold has been reached will no longer exist. The requirement for Trade Unions to detail in a strike notice the number of employees in each category who are expected to take part in the action will also be removed.
What does this mean for you?
It will be more difficult for employers to plan for industrial action and mitigate against it, therefore they will need to have contingency plans in place covering a number of possible scenarios.
Doubling of the expiry period of ballot mandates
Increasing the length of time that a mandate for industrial action remains valid from six months to 12 will reduce costs as it removes the obligation to hold a re-ballot where action still has the support of union members.
What does this mean for you?
Employers facing a dispute will need to be prepared for industrial action to run for up to 12 months without a re-ballot, therefore they should build this into their plans for negotiation with the Union, and maintaining staffing levels in the interim.
Introduction of stronger unfair dismissal protection for workers participating in strike action
The current protection against dismissal during lawful strike action, which only extends for periods of up to twelve weeks, will become an indefinite protection whilst a strike is ongoing.
What does this mean for you?
Employers will need to be mindful that any dismissal for a reason connected with lawful industrial action will be automatically unfair, even if it is several months after the action itself, therefore they will need to participate genuinely in negotiation with Unions to attempt to bring disputes to an end, rather than simply relying on ‘waiting out’ a 12-week period.
Also coming into force will be:
- Introduction of e-balloting • replacing post, courier, fax, and hand delivery with email as the preferred method of voting. Employers should obviously welcome that the accessibility of balloting will be increased as this will make outcomes more representative.
- Removal of the 10-year ballot requirement for union political funds • this places an unnecessary administrative burden on Trade Unions and will have little or no impact on employers.
The introduction of these measures aims to increase employer relationships with Unions as the emphasis moves away from individual enforcement of rights towards more collective representation. It may well be, therefore that employers with little or no experience of Trade Unions, negotiation and industrial action will now find themselves having to address such issues. HR Solutions can assist you by advising on the process for Trade Union recognition and on collective negotiating regarding terms and conditions of employment.
