I spent nearly 8 years in my early career negotiating primary and secondary legislation, including equalities and health and safety. The main thing it was important to do correctly from the start was consult as widely as possible with all those affected before working with the lawyers on drafting.
There will always be unintended consequences, but taking a consultative approach helps to mitigate risks of the most consequential because key stakeholders flag issues early on in the process and you can seek to resolve them before laying drafts before Parliament. This helps to prevent protracted Parliamentary ping-pongs like we’ve seen over the Employment Rights Bill, which I previously likened to that famous Djokovic-Federer final a few years ago, though perhaps less exciting for some to watch.
The ERB has been a good example of how not to do this. It proposes wide-ranging and significant changes to employment rights on a scale not seen since 1996. We remain politically neutral at all times at Glass Ceilings Change Management and I do not make this as a political point, but it’s clear that in the rush to meet an election manifesto pledge to lay this Bill before Parliament within 100 days of coming into office, the government did not make time early enough to consult widely with key stakeholders, including business groups. It has therefore found itself negotiating at the eleventh hour with business groups on concessions to get the Bill through the Lords this side of the Christmas parliamentary recess, leading to the announcement last week on dropping day one unfair dismissal rights to introduce a qualifying period of 6 months and, controversially, removing the compensation cap.
Consulting early means every single potentially contentious word can (and more than likely will!) be poured over and scrutinised. Being very much a ‘words person’, I personally loved this part of the process!
The latest sticking point in the Lords has been over whether “lifted” meant ‘removed’, as interpreted by the government, or ‘raised’, as interpreted by business groups who were taken by surprise last week at the announcement that the compensation cap for unfair dismissal claims would be removed altogether. The current cap is just over £118,000 or 12 months’ gross pay meaning uncapped compensation could have serious financial implications for senior exits.
The Lords sought a consultation amendment last night, to review the cap on awards for unfair dismissal within 3 months. So we’ll wait and see what happens next.
Good to see the Employment Lawyers Association being listed as a statutory consultee – ELA’s consultation responses help to shape better employment law. It was a very eagle eyed ELA member who spotted and flagged a potential issue with the use of the word ‘lifted’ last week.
I’ve enjoyed working on several ELA Working Parties responding to various consultations (3 in the past month!) which has been a real full circle moment in my career.
Laura Evans, CEO 11th December, 2025