Angela Rayner’s Workers’ Rights Bill Explained: 12 Big Employment Law Changes in 2025”

UK Workers’ Rights Just Got a Major Upgrade – And HR Karen’s Not Ready

From unfair dismissals to zero-hours contracts, the UK workplace is about to get its biggest legal shake-up in decades. Angela Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill is rewriting the rules — giving workers more power, more protection, and a lot less corporate nonsense.

While HR Karen updates her coffee-making policy, Angela’s been drafting a bill that puts an end to shady contracts, boosts sick pay, protects pregnant workers, and even makes flexible working the default.

Think of it as Marie Kondo meets trade union muscle — but instead of tidying up your desk, it’s cleaning up outdated employment laws.

Here’s what’s changing (and why it matters).

12 Things Angela’s Serving Up (Sorry Karen)

1. Day-One Rights

Here’s What You Get on Day One:

1. Unfair Dismissal Protection
   No more being sacked without reason just because you're “new.” Employers will now need a fair reason—from your very first shift.
2. Paternity, Parental & Bereavement Leave
   Life doesn’t wait 24 months. New workers now get immediate access to:
   • Paternity/Maternity leave
   • Parental leave
   • Bereavement leave for immediate family loss
3. Sick Pay Access
   No more three-day wait or income thresholds. You’ll get Statutory Sick Pay from Day One if you’re too unwell to work (see our Sick Pay section for the full scoop).

2. Sick Pay That Actually Pays

What’s Changing?

Angela Rayner’s bill will reform sick pay rules across the board, including:

1. No Earnings Threshold
   Currently, if you earn under £123 a week, you don’t qualify for SSP at all. That’s gone. Whether you work full-time, part-time, or just started, you’re covered.
2. No Waiting Period
   At present, you don’t get paid for the first 3 days you’re off sick. Under the new plan, SSP starts from day one of your illness. Because colds don’t take weekends off.
3. Fairer Pay Rates
   Instead of a fixed (and frankly insulting) £116.75 a week, a new minimum of 80% of your regular earnings could apply, ensuring you’re not choosing between healing and heating.

3. Guaranteed Hours

What’s Changing?

If you're regularly working the same hours, you should have a contract that reflects that reality. This part of the bill ensures:

1. Right to Request a Contract That Matches Actual Hours
   Been averaging the same hours every week? You’ll now have the legal right to ask for those hours to be guaranteed. No more playing rota roulette.
2. Advance Notice for Shifts
   Employers will have to give proper notice for shifts. No more last-minute texts saying “Can you do 5 to midnight tonight?” sent at 4:57 pm.
3. Compensation for Late Cancellations
   If they cancel your shift without notice, they pay you anyway. Because your time has value—even if HR forgets that.
4. Applies to Agency and Zero-Hours Workers
   This isn’t just for full-time staff. The protections also cover agency workers and those on casual or zero-hours contracts.

4. Flexible Working Default

What’s Changing?

Under current law, employees must wait 26 weeks before requesting flexible working, and even then, employers can easily say no.

This bill says: Nah. Try again.

1. **Flexible Working Becomes a Day-One Right
   No more waiting six months to ask for hybrid, remote, part-time, or compressed hours. You can now request flexible working from your first day on the job.
2. The Burden Shifts to Employers
   Managers can’t just say “that won’t work for us” and move on. They must justify their refusal, with real reasons—“the printer will miss you” is no longer legally binding.
3. Covers All Types of Flexibility
   This isn’t just about working from home. The bill empowers employees to request:
   • Different start/finish times
   • Fewer days with longer hours
   • Job-sharing
   • Fully remote or hybrid arrangements
4. Supports a Modern Workforce
   Designed with carers, parents, disabled workers, and just people who don’t want to rot in traffic in mind. This is about work-life balance, not just work-presence.

5. Bye-Bye ‘Fire and Rehire’

What’s Changing?

Angela Rayner’s bill bans fire-and-rehire practices outright, putting an end to corporate sleight-of-hand contracts that leave workers worse off.

Here’s what it includes:

1. Ban on Termination-to-Renegotiate Tactics
   Employers will no longer be able to dismiss staff en masse and rehire them under new (usually worse) conditions.
2. Legal Safeguards for Workers
   If a company needs to make contractual changes, they’ll need to:
   • Consult meaningfully with staff and unions
   • Demonstrate a genuine reason for the change (not just to “improve efficiencies” while the CEO buys a third yacht)
3. Stronger Role for Trade Unions
   The bill strengthens union rights during contract renegotiations, ensuring workers aren’t blindsided by a “sign this or you’re out” ultimatum.

6. Mother (and Bump) Knows Best

What’s Changing?

Currently, maternity protections exist, but there are loopholes big enough to push a buggy through. This bill tightens the rules and extends the shield:

1. Firing During Pregnancy or Maternity Leave = Unlawful
   Employers can’t use "business reasons" to fire a pregnant employee or one on maternity leave. The law now puts a big red flag over that move.
2. Six-Month Protection Period After Returning to Work
   You know that awkward “welcome back” followed by being sidelined? This bill extends legal protection for six months after you return from maternity leave.
3. More Robust Penalties for Discrimination
   Employers who try to play fast and loose with maternity rights can expect tougher legal consequences — not just a slap on the wrist and a “we’ll update our training.”
4. Increased Visibility of Rights
   Employers must inform pregnant workers of their rights clearly — no more burying them in a 43-page PDF no one reads until it’s too late.

7. New Sheriff in Town – The Fair Work Agency

What Is the Fair Work Agency?

The FWA will be a dedicated regulator with real teeth—unlike those vague “self-serve” HR portals that vanish when you report an issue.

It will be responsible for:

1. Enforcing Core Employment Rights
   Including:
   • Minimum wage compliance
   • Holiday pay enforcement
   • Statutory sick pay
   • Fair contract terms
2. Investigating Employers
   The FWA can launch proactive investigations—no need to wait for an employee complaint.
   Translation: “Random audit” just became HR Karen’s new panic phrase.
3. Holding Umbrella Companies to Account
   Those shady intermediaries that sit between workers and paychecks? Yeah, the FWA’s got eyes on them too.
4. Coordinating Across Sectors
   Whether it’s social care, gig work, or temp staffing, the FWA will ensure enforcement is consistent and visible.

8. Longer Tribunal Deadlines

What’s Changing?

The bill proposes to double the time limit for making an employment tribunal claim:

• Old rule: You had 3 months to raise a claim (often including weekends and public holidays).
• New rule: You’ll now have 6 months, giving you breathing space, legal prep time, and mental recovery.

That’s twice the time to:

• Process what happened
• Seek legal or union support
• Find that one crucial email titled “Just between us…”
• Explore your way through HR’s intentionally vague policy jungle

9. Redundancy Rules Upgraded

What’s Changing?

Currently, in large-scale redundancies (20+ employees), employers are required to consult for at least 30 to 45 days, depending on the number of roles affected.

But when it comes to compensation? That’s often minimal.

Under the new bill:

1. Redundancy Compensation Period Increases from 90 to 180 Days
   That means double the pay coverage for workers facing large-scale layoffs. More time to:
   • Look for a new job
   • Rebuild finances
   • Avoid panic-filing for a barista gig after leading a team last week
2. Consultation Periods Stay but Become More Meaningful
   Employers must engage in genuine consultation, not just “tick-box” meetings with HR Karen and a spreadsheet.
3. Stronger Role for Unions and Worker Reps
   Union reps and elected employee reps will get more rights to challenge unfair practices during the redundancy process—no more being sidelined while decisions are made behind closed doors.
4. Seafarers Get Specific Protection
   In response to past scandals (looking at you, P&O), the bill includes stronger rules for workers at sea, ensuring they aren’t fired over Zoom while docking.

10. Stronger Unions, Louder Voices

What’s Changing?

1. Easier Access for Unions in Workplaces
   Unions will now have: So no more mysterious “union rep” who has to meet you in a pub car park with leaflets like it’s Fight Club.
   • The right to meet workers virtually
   • Access to workplace email lists
   • More space for physical or digital presence (bulletin boards, intranet notices, etc.)
2. Lower Thresholds for Union Recognition
   The number of employees needed to trigger union recognition is reduced. That means fewer barriers to getting union support where it’s needed most, like underpaid sectors or chaotic start-ups.
3. Digital-Friendly Union Rights
   The bill modernises union activity for the remote/hybrid era:
   • Virtual meetings allowed
   • Digital ballots supported
   • Remote workplaces are still subject to union access
4. More Support for Collective Bargaining
   The bill boosts support for unions engaging in collective bargaining, especially in public sector roles like teaching, social care, and logistics.

11. Sector-Specific Focus

What’s Changing?

This part of the bill provides targeted support to industries that are critical to society but frequently overlooked in employment law reforms. It’s about lifting up the roles that hold up everything else.

🔹 1. Education – Reinstate the School Support Staff Negotiating Body

• A national forum will be brought back for support staff in schools (like teaching assistants, admin, caretakers).
• This means:
  • Nationally set terms and conditions
  • Stronger pay negotiation
  • Less postcode lottery on who earns what and why

🔹 2. Social Care – Support Collective Bargaining Rights

• Care workers will finally be allowed to bargain collectively, meaning:
  • More power to negotiate for better pay and conditions
  • Protection from being exploited across fragmented private providers
  • Less “minimum wage heroism” and more sustainable care careers

🔹 3. Encouragement of Sector-Wide Agreements

• The bill pushes for more national frameworks where employers, unions, and reps agree to terms across whole sectors—so workers don’t have to fight employer-by-employer.

12. Miscellaneous Measures

What’s Included?

🔸 1. Sexual Harassment Protections – With Actual Teeth

• Employers will now have a legal duty to prevent sexual harassment before it happens, not just act after it’s reported.
• Includes responsibility for harassment by third parties (contractors, clients, that creepy supplier guy who always “pops by”).

👏 “We take these matters seriously” is no longer a cover line. It has to be policy-backed action.

🔸 2. Umbrella Company Regulation

• Workers hired through umbrella companies (often in IT, construction, temp roles) will now be better protected.
• No more:
  • Missing pay
  • Mysterious deductions
  • “Oh, that’s between you and the umbrella company” excuses

🔸 3. Employer Duties to Record Leave & Pay Clearly

• Employers must keep clear records of holiday accruals and leave taken.
• So you won’t need to start a spreadsheet titled “What I’m Pretty Sure They Still Owe Me.”

🔸 4. Duties Around Worker Misclassification

• Companies can’t just call you “self-employed” to dodge benefits. If you walk like an employee and work like one—you’ll be treated like one.

🔸 5. Support for Women Going Through Menopause (Pending consultation)

• A proposal to make menopause a protected workplace consideration, so that hot flashes don’t lead to cold HR responses.

👀 What It Means in Real Life

• You can now actually cough and keep your job.
• Your boss might finally learn how contracts work.
• Flexible working isn't a dirty word anymore.
• HR emails might start including phrases like “as required by law.”

Office Bantomime Verdict

If the workplace is a labyrinth of chaos, this bill might be the long-overdue script rewrite. Will it fix everything? No. Will it stop your passive-aggressive team lead from replying all? Also no. But it does mark a shift away from "you're lucky to be here" to "you're entitled to be treated like a human".

Now let’s just hope it survives the committee stage and doesn’t get buried under Karen’s pile of forgotten policy drafts.

Got thoughts, reactions, or tales of zero-hour mayhem? Drop them in the comments or tag us on LinkedIn with #OfficeBantomime.