Overview

• The Employment Rights Bill, now under scrutiny in the House of Lords, would ban zero-hours contracts, strengthen redundancy rights and lower strike thresholds while automating union funding for Labour Conservatives led by Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith have sent an open letter urging companies to oppose the Bill and avoid being “sleepwalked into disaster”
• Government figures indicate the legislation could cost British businesses £5 billion a year and put 50,000 jobs at risk, an estimate critics say may understate its impact
• Industry voices such as Lord Karan Bilimoria and entrepreneur Luke Johnson warn that easier strike rules could usher in 1970s-style labour unrest and dampen investment
• Cabinet tensions have emerged as Chancellor Reeves engages with business groups to temper fallout while Labour presses ahead with the worker protection package due in late 2025