Employers and employment lawyers who have been wondering when autumn would start were not looking to the weather, the trees or the calendar, but were waiting for the commencement of the government’s planned swathe of ‘autumn 2025’ ERB consultations. It started yesterday; when 4 of the 9 consultations promised for this autumn, were launched. Matt Smith, Principal Associate, takes us through each of them.
On 23 October 2025 the Government published four consultations seeking views which it will use to shape new rights and protections that will be introduced by the Employment Rights Bill (ERB).
The four consultations titled ‘Make Work Pay’ invite views on the implementation of the new right for trade unions to access workplaces and communicate with workers, the new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, the enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant workers and new mothers, and the new day-one right to bereavement leave including pregnancy loss.
Right of trade unions to access workplaces
Currently, unions do not have a general independent right of access to workplaces and can only exercise their functions through existing trade union members in the workplace, or through access that has been agreed on a voluntary basis with an employer. The ERB will establish a statutory right for trade unions to access workplaces physically, and to communicate with workers in person and digitally, so that they can recruit new members, meet, represent, or organise workers, or facilitate collective bargaining. The consultation seeks views on the detail of how this new right will work in practice, including:
- The form and content of union requests for access and employer responses, and the time limits on responses and negotiations;
- Where agreement is not reached directly between the union and the employer, what factors the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) will consider when determining whether access should be granted and on what terms;
- the maximum level of fine that could be issued for breaches of access agreements. The paper suggests either a maximum of £75,000, or a two-stage fine for repeated breaches (£75,000 maximum for the initial breach followed by a £150,000 maximum for repeated breaches); and
- and how the CAC is to come to decisions on the level of fines issued for breaches of access agreements. Suggested factors including the gravity, duration and reasons for the failure, number of workers affected, size of the organisation, and previous history of non-compliance.
Further guidance
Closing date: 18 December 2025
Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
The ERB will introduce a new duty on employers to give a written statement to their workers, informing them of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment and at other times.
The consultation seeks views on how this new duty can be implemented effectively while minimising the burden on employers, and in particular on:
- the form and content of the statement;
- whether the statement should be delivered directly to workers alongside their statement of particulars of employment, or by indirect methods such as the intranet or notice boards; and
- the frequency with which the statement must be reissued after the beginning of employment. The suggested options being every six months, annually or that frequency should be sector specific.
Further guidance
Closing date: 18 December 2025
Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
The ERB introduces new protections making it unlawful to dismiss pregnant women, mothers on maternity leave, and mothers who return to work for at least a six-month period after maternity leave – except in specific circumstances.
The consultation is seeking views on the specific circumstances in which the dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers should still be allowed.
The paper addresses whether each of the existing potentially fair reasons for dismissal (conduct, capability, redundancy, statutory ban and ‘some other substantial reason’) should continue to apply to pregnant women and new mothers in their current or an altered form or be removed. The potential options include:
- Introducing a new test for fairness for this group of employees. For example, employers could still be required to show a fair reason for the dismissal, and also show that it is necessary to avoid serious harm to the organisation or other staff.
- Narrowing the scope of some of the potentially fair reasons. For example, limiting conduct cases to gross misconduct only; and
- Removing some of the reasons such as capability (to prevent dismissals for poor performance) and ‘some other substantial reason’ (to prevent dismissals falling outside of the four other fair reasons such as breakdowns in working relationships).
The paper also considers when the protections should start and end and whether other new parents should be covered by the protections, and seeks views on a range of practical issues including making sure pregnant women and new mothers are aware of the policy and how to best support employers through the change.
Further guidance
Closing date: 15 January 2026
Leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss
The Employment Rights Bill introduces a new day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
The consultation seeks views on:
- eligibility criteria including which relationships should be covered;
- the types of pregnancy loss covered;
- duration of the leave (one week, two weeks or some other duration);
- the date from which the leave can be used, the length of the window in which it can be taken and how it should be taken (for example, continuously or in one-week blocks); and
- and notice and evidence requirements.
Further guidance
Closing date: 15 January 2026
Previous insights in our ERB Series
Employment Right Bill Series: Implementation Roadmap – a long and winding road (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty and Partner, Mark Landon) 08 July 2025
Employment Right Bill Series: House of Lords Stages completed (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 26 June 2025
Employment Rights Bill Series: The House of Lords Stages so far (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 6 June 2025
Employment Rights Bill Series: Employment Rights Bill moves from Commons to Lords (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 25 March 2025
Employment Rights Bill Series continued (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 7 March 2025
Employment Rights Bill Series: Zero Hours Contracts and Guaranteed Hours: A Zero-Sum policy? (Principal Associate, Louise Singh) 27 January 2025
Employment Rights Bill Series: Small but significant changes to the statutory sick pay system (Principal Associate, Ashley Powis) 13 December 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: First set of proposed amendments: what it means and what to expect (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 6 December 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: Further rules on fair tipping (Principal Associate, Ashley Powis) 3 December 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: Dismissal and Re-engagement - Tying the Hands of employers? (Legal Director, Ross Hutchison) 22 November 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: The Fair Work Agency (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 15 November 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: The Pendulum Swings on Industrial Relation (Partner Andrew Forrest and Principal Associate, Louise Singh) 8 November 2024
Employment Rights Bill Series: Day 1 right to claim unfair dismissal (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty and Associate, Lauren Barchet) 25 October 2024
Employment Right Bill Series – Flexible Working “Further Flexion” (Principal Associate, Suzanne Nulty) 21 October 2024
The Employment Rights Bill Series: 2024 – What’s in, What’s out, and What’s next (Principal Associates, Louise Singh and Suzanne Nulty) 11 October 2024
For guidance on any aspect of the recently announced consultation, please speak to our expert employment solicitors.
