Date announced for Lords vote on the Employment Rights Bill

A date has been scheduled in the House of Lords for peers to consider MPs’ amendments to the Employment Rights Bill and the reasons the House of Commons rejected the Lords’ amendments. Peers will convene on the 28 October to consider the wishes of the elected house.

Under our Parliamentary system the elected chamber, the House of Commons, always has the final word. If MPs vote against a Lords amendment, as has happened, the Lords usually step back, and that is very likely in this case – particularly since the Bill was a key plank in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.

If the Lords approves the Bill on the 28 October 2025, it is likely to receive Royal Assent in early November, and the first provisions come into force two months later.

The government has said that measures to take effect “at Royal Assent or soon afterwards” include:

• Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
• Repeal of the great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016 (some provisions will be repealed at a later date through a commencement order)
• Removing the 10-year ballot requirement for union political funds
• Simplifying industrial action notices and ballot notices
• Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action.

For many measures, the government plan to consult on policy details and how they are implemented. It has stated in its roadmap that those consultations will take place this autumn and winter, and will include day one protections from unfair dismissal, fire and rehire, and the exploitative use of zero-hours contracts. None of these measures, however, are scheduled to come into force until October 2026 or in 2027.