The government has been firing round an official summary of its flagship “Make Work Pay” plans to stakeholders. Today’s Employment Rights Bill contains about a third of the measures which make up those plans…

Curiously the government refers to the bill straight away as the “Employment Rights Union Bill.” Did they forget to delete the name of the working draft?

The Freudian slip won’t be much comfort to businesses and workers, who will have to deal with massive restrictions on zero hour contracts, statutory protection of “flexible working,” and a rollback of trade union legislation. As expected most changes will be subject to consultations in 2025 and the government makes clear that the majority won’t come into place until 2026. Labour has softened its rhetoric on unfair dismissal, which will now be subject to a “light-touch” statutory probation period instead of “day one protection.” The unions for whom the bill is named will be hard at work to chip away at that concession…

Labour will also establish “day 1 rights” to paternal leave as well as a “Fair Work Agency” and “Employment Rights Unit” to deal with enforcement. Large companies can look forward to being required to produce “action plans” on how to address their gender pay gaps and how to “support employees through the menopause.” A pen-pusher’s charter…

Read the full summary below: