And they’re off! UK government publishes Employment Rights Bill consultations

Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers

The government is committed to making it unlawful to dismiss pregnant women, those on maternity leave and those who have recently returned to work from maternity leave except in specified circumstances. The consultation paper explores what such protection might look like, and asks:

• Whether a higher threshold of fairness should apply to dismissals during a protected period;
• Whether it should be impermissible to dismiss a woman for an otherwise potentially fair reason such as misconduct (other than gross misconduct), capability, or redundancy during the protected period or whether dismissal should be permitted in a narrower range of situations than would currently be the case;
• When the protected period should start and how long it should last; and
• Whether similar protection should apply to parents who have taken other types of extended family leave such as adoption, shared parental or neonatal care leave.

Bereavement leave

We expect a new right to at least a week’s unpaid bereavement leave, which will also apply in cases of pregnancy loss, to come into force at some point in 2027. The consultation paper covers issues such as who should be eligible for leave, when and how leave should be taken, and the notice and evidence requirements that should apply.

Key questions include:

• What types of relationship should qualify for bereavement leave and whether this should be limited to categories such as immediate family, extended family or chosen family;
• Whether all types of pregnancy loss should be eligible for leave, and whether leave should apply only to the mother, or to others such as the mother’s spouse or partner;
• How long unpaid bereavement leave should last and whether this should vary according to the closeness of the relationship with the deceased or in pregnancy loss situations;
• Whether leave should be taken continuously or discontinuously and within what period; and
• Whether any notice and/or evidential requirements should apply.

Informing workers of their right to join a union

From October 2026, employers must inform workers that they have a right to join a union. The consultation discusses what information such a statement should contain, and how and when it should be provided. These include questions such as whether the statement should:

• Include a brief overview of the functions of a trade union, a summary of statutory rights in relation to union membership, a list of all trade unions the employer recognises and a signpost to a list of trade unions;
• Be in a standard form mandated by the government, or drafted by employers in line with government requirements, potentially on the basis of a government-drafted model; and
• Be provided directly by way of letter/ email or indirectly through a notice board or intranet, and whether this should be different for new and existing workers.

The government also suggests that employers should have to remind workers of their rights at least annually but is asking for views on this.

Trade union right of access

A new trade union right to access workplaces and communicate with workers for purposes such as recruiting and organising workers and facilitating collective bargaining is also expected to take effect in October 2026. The consultation paper mainly focuses on the procedural aspects of how trade unions will request and negotiate access agreements.

The main questions of principle the paper tackles are whether:

• Small employers should be exempt from the access right;
• The Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) should refuse access to a union where the employer already recognises another union;
• There are any other circumstances in which the CAC should refuse access;
• It should be reasonable to refuse access if employers would need to make significant structural changes to their workplace to facilitate access (such as implementing a new IT system); and
• Weekly access by a union would be a reasonable requirement.

The consultation paper suggests that employers should be fined up to £75,000 for an initial breach, with a higher limit of £150,000 for subsequent breaches.

Authored by Jo Broadbent and Stefan Martin.