Employment Rights Act 1996

• (2) In this Chapter, “certificate of independence” means a certificate issued under section 6 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Chapter 7 — General

27BZ2

• (1) In this Part—

• “agency worker” has the meaning given by section 27BV;

• “arrangement” (when used by itself and not as part of the expression “zero hours arrangement”) means an arrangement (whether contractual or non-contractual) other than a worker’s contract;

• “specified” means specified in, or determined in accordance with, regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• “work-finding agency” has the meaning given by section 27BV;

• “zero hours arrangement” means an arrangement under which—an employer and an individual agree terms on which the individual will do any work where the employer makes it available to the individual and the individual agrees to do it, butthe employer is not required to make any work available to the individual, nor the individual required to accept it,and in this Part “employer”, in relation to a zero hours arrangement, is to be read accordingly;

• “zero hours contract” means a contract of employment or other worker’s contract under which—the undertaking to do work is an undertaking to do so conditionally on the employer making work available to the worker, andthere is no certainty that any such work will be made available to the worker.

• (2) For the purposes of this Part—

• (a) a person who is, or is treated as, an employer makes work available to a worker or other individual if they request or require the individual to do it;

• (b) references to work and doing work include references to services and performing them.

27BZ3

• (1) Regulations under this Part may—

• (a) make different provision for different purposes;

• (b) make provision subject to exceptions.

• (2) Regulations under this Part may provide that a reference in the regulations to a provision of legislation is to be read as a reference to that provision as amended from time to time.

49E

Regulations under section 49D may—

• (a) make provision about notices to be given, evidence to be produced and other procedures to be followed by employees and employers;

• (b) make provision for the consequences of failure to give notices, to produce evidence or to comply with other procedural requirements;

• (c) make provision for the consequences of failure to act in accordance with a notice given by virtue of paragraph (a);

• (d) make special provision for cases where an employee has a right which corresponds to a right under section 49D and which arises under a contract of employment or otherwise;

• (e) make provision modifying the effect of Chapter 2 of Part 14 (calculation of a week’s pay) in relation to an employee who is or has been absent from work during, or after, a protected period of pregnancy;

• (f) make provision applying, modifying or excluding an enactment, in such circumstances as may be specified and subject to any conditions specified, in relation to a person during, or after, a protected period of pregnancy;

• (g) make different provision for different cases or circumstances.

Short-term incapacity benefit , contributory employment and support allowance and industrial injury benefit.

Supplementary.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No normal retirement age: dismissal at or after 65

Normal retirement age: dismissal before retirement age

Normal retirement age 65 or higher: dismissal at or after retirement age

Jury service

Leave for family reasons.

Contracts of employment: restricted variations

104I

• (1) An employee who is dismissed is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if—

• (a) the employee was employed for the purposes of a business carried on by the employer, and

• (b) the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is a reason within subsection (2) or (3).

• (2) The reason within this subsection is that—

• (a) the employer sought to vary the employee’s contract of employment to make a restricted variation (see subsection (5)), and

• (b) the employee—

• (i) did not agree to the restricted variation, or

• (ii) where the employer sought to make more than one variation, did not agree to a number of variations that included the restricted variation.

• (3) The reason within this subsection is to enable the employer to employ another person, or to re-engage the employee, under a varied contract of employment to carry out the same duties, or substantially the same duties, as the employee carried out before being dismissed.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a contract of employment is a “varied” contract of employment if—

• (a) the terms of the contract are not the same as the terms of the contract of employment under which the employee worked before being dismissed, and

• (b) one or more of the differences between the two sets of terms constitutes a restricted variation (see subsection (5));

and, in a case where subsection (3) applies, any reference in this section to the restricted variation is to be read accordingly.

• (5) In this section “restricted variation” means any of the following—

• (a) a reduction of, or removal of an entitlement to, any sum payable to an employee in connection with the employment (but see subsection (6));

• (b) where the amount of any sum payable to an employee in connection with the employment is determined by reference to a measure of the amount of work done by the employee (including a measure referable to results achieved by the employee), a variation of that measure;

• (c) a variation of any term or condition relating to pensions or pension schemes;

• (d) a variation of the number of hours which an employee is required to work;

• (e) a variation of the timing or duration of a shift which meets such conditions as may be specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• (f) a reduction in the amount of time off which an employee is entitled to take;

• (g) a variation of a description specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State;

• (h) the inclusion in a contract of employment of a term enabling the employer to make any variation within any of the preceding paragraphs without the employee’s agreement.

• (6) The Secretary of State may by regulations provide that a reference in subsection (5) to a sum payable to an employee in connection with the employment does not include a reference to—

• (a) a sum payable in respect of—

• (i) any expenses incurred by an employee;

• (ii) any expenses of a specified description incurred by an employee;

• (iii) any expenses incurred by an employee other than expenses of a specified description;

• (b) a payment or benefit in kind, a payment or benefit in kind of a specified description, or a payment or benefit in kind other than one of a specified description.

In this subsection “specified” means specified in the regulations.

• (7) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if on the effective date of termination the employee has not yet started work.

• (8) In the case of an employer that is not a local authority, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if the employer shows that—

• (a) the reason for the restricted variation was to eliminate, prevent or significantly reduce, or significantly mitigate the effect of, any financial difficulties which at the time of the dismissal were affecting, or were likely in the immediate future to affect—

• (i) the employer’s ability to carry on the business as a going concern, or

• (ii) where the employer is a public sector employer, the financial sustainability of carrying out the employer’s statutory functions, and

• (b) in all the circumstances the employer could not reasonably have avoided the need to make the restricted variation.

• (9) In the case of an employer that is a local authority, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if—

• (a) at the time of the dismissal, a relevant intervention direction has effect in relation to the authority,

• (b) the relevant intervention direction—

• (i) specifies that the reason, or one of the reasons, for the giving of the direction is that the authority is undergoing financial difficulties, and

• (ii) contains provision relating to the financial management or financial governance of the authority, and

• (c) the authority shows that—

• (i) the reason for the restricted variation was to eliminate or significantly reduce, or significantly mitigate the effect of, any of the financial difficulties referred to in paragraph (b)(i), and

• (ii) in all the circumstances the authority could not reasonably have avoided the need to make the restricted variation.

• (10) In determining whether—

• (a) in the case of a public sector employer (other than a local authority), subsection (8)(b) is met, or

• (b) in the case of a local authority, subsection (9)(c)(ii) is met,

an employment tribunal must apply the same principles as would be applied by a court on an application for judicial review.

• (11) Where the employer shows that the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (8) are met, or (where the employer is a local authority) the conditions in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (9) are met, the matters that must be considered in determining the question whether the dismissal is fair or unfair include the following—

• (a) any consultation carried out by the employer with the employee about varying the employee’s contract of employment;

• (b) if the employee is of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with that trade union;

• (c) if the employee is not of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with any other person representing the interests of the employee that, at the time of the dismissal, had authority to receive information and to be consulted about the dismissal on the employee’s behalf;

• (d) anything offered to the employee by the employer in return for agreeing to the restricted variation;

• (e) any matters specified for the purposes of this subsection in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

• (12) In this section—

• “English local authority” means—a county council or district council in England;a London borough council;the Greater London Authority;the Council of the Isles of Scilly;the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority, a police authority or a port health authority;a combined authority established under section 103 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009;a combined county authority established under section 9(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023;

• “local authority” means—an English local authority,a Welsh local authority, ora Scottish local authority;

• “public sector employer” means a person that—is wholly or mainly funded from public funds,is under a statutory duty to carry out any functions of a public nature, andso far as carrying out those functions, does not operate on a commercial basis;

• “recognised”, in relation to a trade union, has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (see section 178 of that Act);

• “relevant intervention direction” means—in the case of an English local authority, a direction under section 15(5) or (6)(a) of the Local Government Act 1999 (powers to deal with failure to comply with duties relating to best value authorities);in the case of a Welsh local authority, a direction under section 106 or 107 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (asc 1) (intervention powers of Welsh Ministers);in the case of a Scottish local authority, an enforcement direction under section 24 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (asp 1) relating wholly or partly to a failure of the authority to comply with its duties under section 1 of that Act (local authorities’ duty to secure best value);

• “Scottish local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “statutory duty” means a duty imposed by or under any enactment, including—a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales or an Act of Senedd Cymru, andan Act of the Scottish Parliament;

• “statutory functions”, in relation to a public sector employer, means functions of a public nature which the employer is under a statutory duty to carry out;

• “Welsh local authority” means—a county council or county borough council in Wales;a corporate joint committee established under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

• (13) The reference in subsection (9)(a) to a relevant intervention direction includes a relevant intervention direction given before the day on which the Employment Rights Act 2025 was passed.

104J

• (1) This section applies to the dismissal of an employee if—

• (a) the employee was employed for the purposes of a business carried on by the employer, and

• (b) the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is a reason within subsection (2) or (3).

• (2) The reason within this subsection is that—

• (a) the employer sought to vary the employee’s contract of employment,

• (b) the variation was not a restricted variation or, where the employer sought to make more than one variation, none of the variations was a restricted variation, and

• (c) the employee did not agree to the variation.

• (3) The reason within this subsection is to enable the employer to employ another person, or to re-engage the employee, under a varied contract of employment to carry out the same duties, or substantially the same duties, as the employee carried out before being dismissed.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a contract of employment is a “varied” contract of employment if—

• (a) the terms of the contract are not the same as the terms of the contract of employment under which the employee worked before being dismissed, and

• (b) none of the differences between the two sets of terms constitutes a restricted variation;

and, in a case where subsection (3) applies, any reference in this section to the variation is to be read accordingly.

• (5) The matters that must be considered in determining the question whether the dismissal is fair or unfair include the following—

• (a) the reason for the variation;

• (b) any consultation carried out by the employer with the employee about varying the employee’s contract of employment;

• (c) if the employee is of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with that trade union;

• (d) if the employee is not of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with any other person representing the interests of the employee that, at the time of the dismissal, had authority to receive information and to be consulted about the dismissal on the employee’s behalf;

• (e) anything offered to the employee by the employer in return for agreeing to the variation;

• (f) any matters specified for the purposes of this subsection in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

• (6) In this section—

• “recognised”, in relation to a trade union, has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (see section 178 of that Act);

• “restricted variation” has the same meaning as in section 104I.

104K

• (1) An employee who is dismissed is to be regarded for the purposes of this Part as unfairly dismissed if—

• (a) the employee was employed for the purposes of a business carried on by the employer, and

• (b) the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is to enable the employer to replace the employee with an individual who is not an employee of the employer.

• (2) For the purposes of this section—

• (a) an employer replaces an employee with an individual who is not an employee of the employer if (and only if)—

• (i) the individual, or the individual taken together with one or more employees of the employer or other individuals, is to carry out activities, in pursuance of a relevant contract, for the purposes of the employer’s business,

• (ii) those activities are the same, or substantially the same, activities as the employee, or the employee taken together with one or more other employees of the employer, carried out before being dismissed, and

• (iii) the employee’s dismissal is not wholly or mainly attributable to the fact that the requirements of the employer’s business for those activities to be carried out have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish;

and any reference in this section to replacing an employee is to be read accordingly;

• (b) a reference to replacing an employee with an individual who is not an employee of the employer includes the case where the individual is the one who has been dismissed;

• (c) “relevant contract”, in relation to an employer, means a contract, other than a contract of employment, to which the employer is a party (whether or not the individual carrying out activities in pursuance of the contract is a party to it).

• (3) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if on the effective date of termination the employee has not yet started work.

• (4) In the case of an employer that is not a local authority, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if the employer shows that—

• (a) the reason for the replacement was to eliminate, prevent or significantly reduce, or significantly mitigate the effect of, any financial difficulties which at the time of the dismissal were affecting, or were likely in the immediate future to affect—

• (i) the employer’s ability to carry on the business as a going concern, or

• (ii) where the employer is a public sector employer, the financial sustainability of carrying out the employer’s statutory functions, and

• (b) in all the circumstances the employer could not reasonably have avoided the need to replace the employee.

• (5) In the case of an employer that is a local authority, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an employee if—

• (a) at the time of the dismissal, a relevant intervention direction has effect in relation to the authority,

• (b) the relevant intervention direction—

• (i) specifies that the reason, or one of the reasons, for the giving of the direction is that the authority is undergoing financial difficulties, and

• (ii) contains provision relating to the financial management or financial governance of the authority, and

• (c) the authority shows that—

• (i) the reason for the replacement was to eliminate or significantly reduce, or significantly mitigate the effect of, any of the financial difficulties referred to in paragraph (b)(i), and

• (ii) in all the circumstances the authority could not reasonably have avoided the need to replace the employee.

• (6) In determining whether—

• (a) in the case of a public sector employer (other than a local authority), subsection (4)(b) is met, or

• (b) in the case of a local authority, subsection (5)(c)(ii) is met,

an employment tribunal must apply the same principles as would be applied by a court on an application for judicial review.

• (7) Where the employer shows that the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4) are met, or (where the employer is a local authority) the conditions in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (5) are met, the matters that must be considered in determining the question whether the dismissal is fair or unfair include the following—

• (a) any consultation carried out by the employer with the employee about replacing the employee;

• (b) if the employee is of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with that trade union;

• (c) if the employee is not of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised by the employer, any consultation carried out by the employer with any other person representing the interests of the employee that, at the time of the dismissal, had authority to receive information and to be consulted about the dismissal on the employee’s behalf;

• (d) any matters specified for the purposes of this subsection in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

• (8) In this section—

• “contract” means a contract whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing;

• “English local authority” means—a county council or district council in England;a London borough council;the Greater London Authority;the Council of the Isles of Scilly;the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority, a police authority or a port health authority;a combined authority established under section 103 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009;a combined county authority established under section 9(1) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023;

• “local authority” means—an English local authority,a Welsh local authority, ora Scottish local authority;

• “public sector employer” means a person that—is wholly or mainly funded from public funds,is under a statutory duty to carry out any functions of a public nature, andso far as carrying out those functions, does not operate on a commercial basis;

• “recognised”, in relation to a trade union, has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (see section 178 of that Act);

• “relevant intervention direction” means—in the case of an English local authority, a direction under section 15(5) or (6)(a) of the Local Government Act 1999 (powers to deal with failure to comply with duties relating to best value authorities);in the case of a Welsh local authority, a direction under section 106 or 107 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (asc 1) (intervention powers of Welsh Ministers);in the case of a Scottish local authority, an enforcement direction under section 24 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (asp 1) relating wholly or partly to a failure of the authority to comply with its duties under section 1 of that Act (local authorities’ duty to secure best value);

• “Scottish local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “statutory duty” means a duty imposed by or under any enactment, including—a Measure or Act of the National Assembly for Wales or an Act of Senedd Cymru, andan Act of the Scottish Parliament;

• “statutory functions”, in relation to a public sector employer, means functions of a public nature which the employer is under a statutory duty to carry out;

• “Welsh local authority” means—a county council or county borough council in Wales;a corporate joint committee established under Part 5 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

• (9) The reference in subsection (5)(a) to a relevant intervention direction includes a relevant intervention direction given before the day on which the Employment Rights Act 2025 was passed.

Complaints to employment tribunal.

Confidentiality of negotiations before termination of employment

The remedies: orders and compensation.

Order for reinstatement.

Basic award: reductions.

Application to police.

Circumstances in which an employee is dismissed.

Employee’s rights on insolvency of employer.

Insolvency.

Harassment and discrimination: contractual duties of confidentiality

202A

• (1) Any provision in an agreement between an employer and a worker of the employer (whether a worker’s contract or not) is void in so far as it purports to preclude the worker from making—

• (a) an allegation of, or a disclosure of information relating to, relevant harassment or discrimination, or

• (b) an allegation, or a disclosure of information, relating to the response of an employer of the worker to—

• (i) relevant harassment or discrimination, or

• (ii) the making of an allegation or disclosure within paragraph (a).

• (2) Harassment or discrimination is “relevant” for the purposes of subsection (1) if—

• (a) the harassment or discrimination consists of, or is alleged to consist of, conduct engaged in by—

• (i) an employer of the worker, or

• (ii) another worker of such an employer, or

• (b) the person who is, or is alleged to be, the victim of the harassment or discrimination is—

• (i) the worker, or

• (ii) another worker of an employer of the worker.

• (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to provision in an agreement (an “excepted agreement”) that satisfies such conditions as the Secretary of State may specify by regulations.

• (4) But the Secretary of State may by regulations provide that any provision in an excepted agreement is void in so far as it purports to preclude the worker from making an allegation or disclosure within subsection (1)(a) or (b)—

• (a) to a specified description of person;

• (b) for a specified purpose;

• (c) in specified circumstances.

• (5) The Secretary of State may by regulations—

• (a) provide for this section to have effect as if references to a worker included a specified description of individual who is not a worker as defined by section 230(3) but who—

• (i) works or worked, or is or was provided with work experience or training, in specified circumstances, or

• (ii) has entered into, or works or worked under, a relevant contract of a specified description;

• (b) make provision as to who is to be regarded as an employer of such an individual for the purposes of this section.

• (6) In subsection (5), “relevant contract” means any contract, other than a contract of employment, whether express or implied and (if express) whether oral or in writing, by which an individual undertakes to do or perform (whether personally or otherwise) any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual.

• (7) Regulations under this section may—

• (a) make different provision for different purposes;

• (b) make consequential provision.

• (8) For the purposes of this section, the holding, otherwise than under a contract of employment, of the office of constable or an appointment as a police cadet is to be treated as employment by the relevant officer under a contract of employment.

“The relevant officer” has the meaning given by section 43KA(2).

• (9) Nothing in this section affects the operation of any other enactment or rule of law by virtue of which provision in an agreement may be void.

• (10) In this section—

• “discrimination” means discrimination within any of sections 13, 15 to 19A and 21(2) of the Equality Act 2010;

• “harassment” means harassment of the kind described in subsection (1), (2) or (3) of section 26 of that Act;

• “specified” means specified in the regulations.

Reinstatement or re-engagement of dismissed employee.

General.

Other definitions.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Notes:

Entitlement to additional paternity leave: birth

Special cases

Parental bereavement Bereavement leave

Employer’s duties in relation to application under section 80F

No normal retirement age: dismissal at or after 65

Normal retirement age: dismissal before retirement age

Normal retirement age below 65: dismissal at or after retirement age

Reason for dismissal: particular matters

Retirement dismissals: fairness

Interpretation

Trustees of occupational pension schemes.

Tax credits

Pension enrolment

Employee shareholder status

Upper age limit.

Summary dismissal.

Death of employer: lay-off and short-time.

Law governing employment.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Introductory.

Introductory.

Associated employers.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Notes:

Right to remuneration for time off under section 57ZJ

Complaint to employment tribunal

Complaint to employment tribunal: agency workers

Time off for dependants.

Right to time off for pension scheme trustees.

Right to remuneration for time off under section 61.

Right to remuneration for time off under section 63A.

Complaints to employment tribunals.

Section 63D application: supplementary

Redundancy and dismissal.

Ordinary adoption leave

Redundancy and dismissal

Entitlement to shared parental leave: birth

Entitlement to parental leave.

Rights during and after parental leave.

Special cases.

Entitlement to additional paternity leave: birth

Special cases

Chapter 3: supplemental

Employer’s duties in relation to application under section 80F

Remedies

The right.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Procedural fairness

Upper age limit.

Complaints to employment tribunal.

The remedies: orders and compensation.

The orders.

Basic award of two weeks’ pay in certain cases.

Application to police.

Law governing employment.

Normal working hours.

Orders and regulations.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Notes: