House of Lords vote for amendment to the Employment Rights Bill blocking Labour’s day-one unfair dismissal rights manifesto promise

In 2024 Labour pledged to introduce the Employment Rights Bill that stipulated unfair dismissal as a day-one right for all employees. Early versions of the bill contained reference to an “initial period of employment” where employers could dismiss staff for a number of reasons however, the exact length of the period or the specific reasons are yet to be defined.

On 16 July 2025 the Lords debated this specific factor of the bill and at a rate of 304 votes in favour and 160 against put forward an amendment to remove the suggested “initial period” and instead reduce the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal from the current 2 years to 6 months.  This reduction is still an improvement for the rights of workers in comparison to existing legislation however, it is still not as favourable as was initially promised by the Labour government. 

Lord Vaux of Harrowden, a sponsor of the amendment, argued that the original suggestion contained within the bill would result in a negative impact on the job market with businesses becoming more reluctant to hire new staff, particularly those prospective employees who would benefit from the social mobility achieved through commencing and maintaining employment. 

Of course, the amendment could be rejected when it goes back to the House of Commons and the House of Lords generally does not block a government's manifesto promises due to the Salisbury Convention. Suffice to say at this stage the verdict on unfair dismissal and employee’s rights in respect of this remain vague.

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