CIPD: Employment Rights Bill timetable needs clarity

The government should ‘as a matter of urgency’ start setting out an implementation plan to help employers prepare for the introduction of an Employment Rights Act, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development has stated.

In a new blog published on the CIPD website, head of public policy at the organisation, Bill Willmott, wrote that what concerned businesses the most about the Employment Rights Bill was the difficulty of implementing so many changes at one time.

Willmott said that although the government had committed to phasing in the new measures, most would be implemented on “common commencement dates” in either April or October, not before 2026. So far, the new probation period, which won’t be implemented until October 2026, was the only measure the government had confirmed a timetable for.

Employers also needed to be supplied with advice and guidance on the law changes, with Acas requiring more resources to strengthen its ability to provide advice and guidance to organisations. HR leaders would have to be supported in understanding their key role in managing people fairly and complying with the law, wrote Willmott.

The CIPD said it expected few material changes to be made to the Bill as it passed through the House of Lords, but there was still the possibility of “refining some key measures” which would be subject to consultation and set out in secondary legislation.

This included details of some of the most complex measures such as the new statutory probation period and a new “light touch” process for dismissing new staff fairly, as well as the final design of new laws that would make it easier for unions to achieve statutory recognition and access workplaces. Willmott wrote: “A lot of detail on the new rights for zero-hours workers is also still to be finalised.”

He warned that it was crucial for ministers to be “in genuine listening mode” and prepared to refine changes to regulation “to ensure they are workable and don’t have needless unintended consequences for either employers or workers”.

Willmott added that with “the government intending to pass the Bill before parliament’s summer recess at the end of July, the consultations on key details to be laid out in secondary legislation would “likely need to take place in the second half of this year”.

The CIPD blog also reflected employers’ concerns, as reported last month after a survey, over increasing workforce costs after the introduction of the Bill’s measures including the introduction of a new statutory probation period, new rights for zero-hours workers and changes to statutory sick pay.

Almost a third of organisations who said their employment costs would rise told researchers they would have to cut headcount through reduced hiring or redundancies. A further fifth said they would reduce overtime and/or bonuses and cut spending on staff training.

Nearly a fifth of organisations that expect the legislation to increase employment costs said they were more likely to rely on temporary workers, while 10% reported they will increase their use of other atypical workers and self-employed contractors.

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