At the risk of sounding wholly narcissistic, why is it that whenever I am out of the office, something big lands in my little employment law world!  And so it came to pass last Thursday; 

The Government announced that it would reduce but not remove the qualification period for unfair dismissal. 

When the Bill returns to the House of Commons on 8 December, the Government will agree to amend the unfair dismissal provisions.  In essence, they are agreeing to the House of Lords' amendment that the qualification period for unfair dismissal be reduced from twenty-four months to six months. We assume that this will also see the removal of the statutory probationary period/initial period, although we await confirmation on 8 December.

The Government announced it will ‘lift the compensation cap’

It's unclear what exactly is meant by that; does this mean the 52-week cap will be increased as it usually is each year? Or does it mean that the 52-week cap on compensation payable in an unfair dismissal case will be removed completely? The opinions from those who are way nearer the seat of power than I am think it will be the latter.  Again, hopefully all will become clear on 8 December.  

Why has the Government changed on this - wasn't it a manifesto promise?

It's likely that the Government wants and needs to get the Bill through Parliament by Christmas so that its consultation/implementation programme remains on track. It became increasingly clear as this autumn progressed into winter that it would not happen, given the House of Lords' commitment to its amendments. This compromise on the unfair dismissal provisions may mean the House of Lords will agree with the Government's commitment to the duty on employers to provide guaranteed hours offers to the qualifying employees and workers and the Bill can pass.   The commitment to what may or may not have been a manifesto promise seems to have been forgotten in the ‘ping pong’ that has gone on between the two Houses of Parliament over the last two months.  

Anything else we need to know about? 

• 26 consultations on aspects on the Bill to be launched once it has received Royal Assent - Business Secretary Peter Kyle announced this at the CBI conference on 24 November - it's going to be a busy January!
• Consultation launched 19 November on draft code of practice on electronic balloting for statutory trade union ballots - see consultation here.
• Ongoing consultations on protections for pregnant employees and new mothers and bereavement leave (details here); trade union access and information about unions to staff (details here) and; Adult Social Care Fair Pay Agreement (details here). 

You can contact the team for more information on this and also subscribe to our Employment Rights Bill Hub for more details and analysis.