The Employment Rights Bill has entered its final parliamentary stages.

The Employment Rights Bill has entered its final parliamentary stages.   The House of Commons rejected significant non-government amendments passed by the House of Lords at Report Stage.

The Bill will now return to the House of Lords, with reasons given by a House of Commons Committee for rejection of the amendments. In particular:

• Retaining a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal was rejected because it is considered appropriate for protection from unfair dismissal to apply from the beginning of employment. Therefore the Bill is still likely to proceed on the basis that there will be day one rights for protection from unfair dismissal for employees – a radical change from the current two year qualifying period.
• Replacing the proposed duty for employers to offer a guaranteed hours contract with a right for workers to request one was rejected because it is considered appropriate for workers who meet the qualifying criteria to receive a guaranteed hours offer.
• Defining “short notice” for the purposes of compensation for cancelled shifts to be 48 hours was rejected because this would pre-empt consultation and limit the government’s discretion.
• Permitting employees to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings by a “certified professional companion” was rejected because it would likely lead to an increase in the cost, complexity and length of such hearings.