UK Government Unveils Major Workers' Rights Reforms
Labour's Employment Rights Bill introduces sweeping changes to sick pay, zero-hour contracts, and unfair dismissal protections, drawing mixed reactions from unions and businesses.
- The Employment Rights Bill expands protections for workers, including banning exploitative zero-hour contracts and extending these rules to agency workers.
- Statutory sick pay will now be available from day one of illness and to workers earning below the current eligibility threshold of £123 per week.
- Unfair dismissal protections will apply from the first day of employment, ending the previous two-year qualification period.
- Paternity leave, unpaid parental leave, and bereavement leave for pregnancy loss will now be available from the first day of employment.
- Businesses have raised concerns about the estimated £4.5 billion cost of the reforms, while unions have hailed the bill as a historic improvement for workers' rights.
The Guardian 
The Telegraph 
Sky News 
i 
The Times 
Metro 
Open Access Government 
The Independent 