Over the last few years, we have seen little development in employment law, however, this could change as several Employment Bills could become law in 2023. Of course, it does depend on how much parliamentary time is available as well as other socio-political factors, so how quickly the Bills progress through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords can’t be confirmed.
When looking at employment law, Bills either start in the House of Commons or the House of Lords, but most of the current Employment Bills started in the House of Commons. In this article, we summarise the key Employment Bills that we think could be passed as legislation later this year, based on where they are in the process.
To provide context as to how far on in the process each one is, the chart below provides a summary of the general order in which each of the parliamentary steps occurs before a Bill becomes a law.
Stages a Bill passes to become law:
Employment Bills are currently at the House of Lords and in the order of where they are in the parliamentary process (furthest on first) and have a strong possibility of becoming law in 2023. There are several other employment Bills, that aren’t referenced in this article because they are earlier on in their progression through parliament, currently at the House of Commons Stage.
These could change in response to socio-political factors and parliamentary time.
Employment Law Bills:
| Name of Bill | Overview | Current stage |
| The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill | A Bill to make provision about the regulation of social housing including the standards relating to competence and conduct. | NB: This started in the House of Lords. Consideration of the Commons Amendments – date TBC |
| Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill | Would require workers to receive tips, gratuities and service charges paid by customers in full and without deduction | 3rd Reading – 21 April 2023 |
| Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Bill | Deadline 31 December 2023 for all EU-derived legislation and case rulings to be abolished (unless otherwise agreed for amendments) | Report Stage – date TBC |
| Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill | To require employees to work a minimum number of hours before being able to go on strike | Report Stage – 26 April 2023 |
| Carer’s Leave Bill | New entitlement to leave and pay | Committee Stage – 19 April 2023 |
| Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill | New entitlement to leave and pay | Committee Stage |
| Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill | Extend protections for employees on maternity/adoption/Shared parental leave with regards to redundancy. | Committee Stage – 17 April 2023 |
| Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill | Make provision in relation to the duties of employers regarding sexual harassment, including harassment by a 3rd party. | Committee Stage – date TBC |
| Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill | Introducing changes to flexible working rights. | 2nd Reading – date TBC |
| Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill | Automatic pension enrolment to jobholders under the age of 22. | 2nd Reading – date TBC |
| Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill | Amend the law around workplace information and consultation and safeguards against dismissal and re-engagement. | NB: This started in the House of Lords. 2nd Reading Public consultation closed 18 April. |
Key dates for the diary
There are several key dates coming up over the next couple of weeks, which are highlighted above, which will progress several Bills further along in the process. There are also suggestions reported in the news that there could be a delay to the Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Bill, and the proposed plans to amend the Equality Act by introducing third-party harassment could be scrapped.
2023 is anticipated to be a big year in employment law and for now, we continue to assume that the Bills listed above continue in line with the timetable, but further updates will be provided as and when we hear of any changes.
Supporting Documents
We recently hosted our 2023 Employment Law Virtual Seminar where we discussed the year ahead in detail, with our expert HR Knowledge panel.
If you missed this virtual seminar, fear not, you can watch it on demand – here.
Employment Law Reform Hub
Due to the number of changes to the Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Bill and the impact that they could have on businesses, we have created a dedicated page which has been and will continue to be updated as and when we learn more.
To access the Employment Law Reform Hub, simply click here.
We are here to help
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, or you are considering outsourcing your Health and Safety, Payroll, or HR, you can contact us on 0844 324 5840 or get in touch with us here.
