Picture this. It's Tuesday, the 2nd of December. Hazel, our well-being officer, is dragging a pile of draft contracts round the room like she's helping. I'm chasing her with sticky notes that say employment rights bill, start dates, and who ordered three new policies. Here's the big question. What if the Employment Rights Bill really does help staff? But also swamp small employers with cost and admin. Let's sort what's decided, what isn't, and when it lands. In plain English, you can act on kettle on, cake within reach. We're going in. Welcome. Hello, I'm Kate, and this is Buzzing About HR. Today's episode, the Employment Rights Bill, relief, chaos, or both. This advice is for the UK only. First things first. Employment Rights Bill, I'll call it ERB from now on, to save your ears. No fluff, quick enough for the school run. Why this matters? Right now. This bill is 2025's Biggie. It touches contracts, rotors, probation, sickness, redundancies, and union access. If you run a small business, this isn't background noise, it's your next quarter's to-do list. The ERB is expected to pass by year end, with most changes rolling in through 2026 and 2027. State of play, what's decided, what's not, and when. Let's start with the headline everyone's asking about. The government has dropped the day one unfair dismissal idea and gone for a six-month qualifying period instead. Current plan. It starts 1st January 2027. So if someone starts in July 2026 and hits six months by New Year's Day, they're in. There's also a plan to remove the cap on ordinary unfair dismissal compensation. Right now there's a monetary cap. If the cap goes, some unfair dismissal awards could become uncapped, like discrimination and whistleblowing already are. That matters most for higher earners. We're waiting for the final text, but it's very much on the table. SICPAY gets simpler. Statutory sick pay, I'll call it SSP after this. From day one and removal of the lower earnings limit, I'll say LEL from now on. That means more people qualify and they qualify sooner. Target date April 2026. Good for staff, a bit more cost and admin for you. On insecure work, the ERB goes after the exploitative end of zero hours. Expect a new right to guaranteed or predictable hours based on what's actually been worked, plus proper notice of shifts and compensation for short notice cancellations. Detail will arrive in regulations after consultation. Think 2027 for the bigger pieces. There'll be a duty to inform workers of their right to join a union and a right of access framework so unions can engage workers fairly. Government consultation is running now and closes in December, with an expected October 2026 start for the duty to inform and access rules. When I mention the government website, I mean the government website, I'll say gov.uk after this. Pop that date in your diary. If you're a fan of fire and rehire, brace. The direction of travel is tighter rules and higher risk when you're changing restricted terms like pay, hours or patterns. Codes and regulations will follow in 2026. The message is build a proper business case, consult fairly, and try alternatives first. Quick runway summary, law by end 2025, barring drama, SSP and some pieces from April 2026, Union Access from October 2026, six-month unfair dismissal on the 1st of January 2027, and the predictable hours regime phasing in around then too. Quick reminder ERB is Employment Rights Bill, SSP is statutory sick pay, LEL is lower earnings limit. Right back to it. You've always built next week's rotor on a Friday, and yes, there's the odd last minute cancellation when custom dips. Under the ERB direction, you'll be giving reasonable notice of shifts, and if you cancel late, you'll owe some compensation. So you'll want a basic forecasting habit, even a two-line footful guess, plus local events note, and a simple rotor rule like we post rotors weekly by Tuesday, 5 pm. Cancellations under 24 hours pay one hour at the basic rate. That kind of clarity keeps you compliant and your team less cross. You're a 15-person marketing agency. Probation today can be a bit we'll see. In the six-month rights world, you need to prove you were fair. Easy win. Book two check-ins in every new starter's diary. Say week 12 and week 20. Give what good looks like on one page and follow each check-in with a short note. At month five, if it's not working, you're not panicking. You've got evidence, you've been clear, and you can make a lawful decision before the six-month line. You're a small manufacturer with a few variable hour staff who consistently work more than their contracts say. Under the ERB plan, if someone is regularly doing 28 hours while contracted for 12, you'll likely need to offer guaranteed hours that reflect reality after a set reference period. The government will define that. Get ahead. Start tracking. Hours actually worked versus hours contracted. Now so you can make clean offers later without a scramble. SSP change in practice. Imagine a part-timer who currently misses out due to waiting days or the LEL. From April 2026, they'll qualify from day one. For you, line managers must stop saying sick pay starts on day four. That script becomes wrong. Update the policy and give managers a one-page flow so they don't guess. Union information. For a busy builder's merchant with 30 staff, this is admin, not drama. Pop a simple write-to-joiner union statement into onboarding, link to Gov.uk's union list, and log that it was given. If a union requests access, you'll use the new framework. Most small businesses will barely notice if they're organised. Expect the duty to inform from October 2026. Grey areas you'll ask me about and what I'll say. Is six months definitely the new threshold? And when? Yes, that's the agreed landing zone. The latest is the first of January 2027 for six month unfair dismissal rights replacing two years. Day one rights are off the table. Build probations for that world now. Is unfair dismissal compensation really going unlimited? That's the reform on the table. It won't turn every case into six figures. Tribunal averages are much lower, but it changes the calculus with higher earners. Keep an eye on the final bill text. Are zero hours banned? No. The ERB targets exploitative use. Expect predictable hours rights, notice of shifts and cancellation compensation. Your fix is grown-up rotor rules, not panic WhatsApps. Do we have to let unions on site now? Not yet. The government is consulting now. Rules are expected in October 2026. Start with a duty to inform wording in your starter packs and keep a named point of contact for access requests. What about SICPAY? When do we change? Update your policy for April 2026. SSP from day one and no LEL. Do a quick cost look back on last year's absence so you aren't surprised. What to do this week without drowning in paper? Let's keep it friendly and doable. First, probation. Put two check-ins on every new starter's timeline and give managers a one-page checklist, goals, evidence, and the exact date you need a pass. Extend or fail decision. The O WeForgot era ends when six-month rights start. Second, sick pay. Swap the line SICPAY starts day four to SSP starts day one from April 2026 and the LEL no longer applies. Update your template emails and your handbook and ask payroll to flag any knock-on process changes. That's a 30-minute job that saves six months of confusion. Third, rotors. Write two sentences you can live with. We post rotors by X each week. Cancellations under Y notice are paid Z. You can tweak Z as the regulations settle, but having a rule now trains the habit you'll need later. Fourth, predictable hours data. Create a simple spreadsheet contracted versus worked hours per person. When the guaranteed hours duty kicks in, you're not arguing from memory, you've got facts. Fifth, union info. Add a short write to join a union. Note to offers and day one onboarding and link to gov.uk's union list. Diary October 2026 for the duty going live. Finally, change management discipline. If you're tweaking pay, hours or patterns next year, treat it like a mini project. Make the case, consult properly, offer alternatives, keep notes. That habit is your seatbelt under the new regime. A little taster from my herb readiness checklist. I won't give the whole thing away here, but here's the flavour. A probation pack. One page per roll with what good looks like, two meeting prompts, and three decision letters, pass, extend, fail. A sick pay quick switch. The exact phrases to remove from your handbook and the two lines to add so nobody says day four ever again. SSP is day one from April 2026 and the LEL no longer applies. A rotor rule book. A 90-second script for posting rotors and a simple cancellation formula you can afford. Set now. Refine when the regulations land. A predictable hours tracker, columns for contracted hours, average worked, variance, and offer due date so you can prove you made a fair offer when required. A union duty snippet. Plug and play. Text for starter packs. And a tiny log to show you gave it. Ready for October 2026. If you want the full list, with dates, who does what, and the actual templates, it's in the show notes. How to talk to your team and keep trust. Say it plainly. We're getting ahead of the new rules, so we're fair and compliant. Some changes help you, like day one SSP and more predictable hours. Some add admin for us. We'll do it properly and keep you in the loop. Explain probation like grown-ups. You'll know your goals. We'll check in twice. If it's not working, we won't leave it to month six. Explain rotus without drama. We'll post them on time. If we cancel late, there's a rule and a reason. And union info. You'll get a note on your rights. It's information, not a nudge. Quick questions and answers. I'll say QA from here on. Do I need to rewrite contracts now? Not all of them. Start with probation clauses, sickness sections, and variable hours wording. The rest can follow once the regulations and codes are final. Are casuals going permanent? No. But if someone regularly works more than their contract, expect to offer guaranteed hours after a reference period. Track the data now. Six months pulls more people into scope. And if the compensation cap goes, settlement chats with higher earners change tone. Good process still prevents most claims. When does the union bit byte? Consultations close in December. The duty to inform and access framework are signalled for October 2026. Put the wording in onboarding now and you're ahead. Day one SSP. Is that certain? That's the plan for April 2026 with no LEL. Update policy and manager scripts now so you don't undo it later. Back to Hazel, who has successfully filed our ERB drafts under Chewable. Relief or chaos? Honestly, both. Staff will get fairer treatment and you'll get some extra admin. But if you lay a few simple rails now, you'll be fine when the dates hit. I've made an ERB readiness checklist, the full step-by-step version of today's tasters, with dates, owners, and plug and play wording. Grab it from the show notes. If you want me to sanity check your contracts or walk your managers through the new rules, book a quick chat. I'll bring cake. Hazel brings morale. I'm Kate. This is Buzzing About HR. Kettle on. Standards up. See you next time.