The government has issued two further consultation documents on aspects of the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), a consultation on a draft code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots, and the terms of reference for a review of employment rights of unpaid carers. Meanwhile, the parliamentary ping pong process on the ERB continues with further defeats for the government in the House of Lords.

Code of Practice on electronic and workplace balloting

At present, the law requires almost all statutory trade union ballots to be conducted solely by post. The government will be introducing electronic and workplace balloting via secondary legislation, which is currently intended to come into force in April 2026 (although the indicative timetable may face some slippage as the ERB is currently held up in the parliamentary ping pong process – see below).

The Code of Practice is intended to provide clear and detailed guidance on how electronic and workplace ballots should operate in practice to ensure that the new voting methods are applied legally, fairly and securely.

The government plans to permit three new voting methods, in addition to postal voting:

1. Pure electronic voting.
2. Hybrid electronic voting – where voting materials are distributed by post and members can return their vote by post or electronically.
3. Workplace balloting – where members cast their vote in person in the workplace via a physical ballot box.

In all circumstances statutory ballots will only be able to be conducted using an independent scrutineer.

Unpaid carer’s leave

Entitlement to unpaid carer’s leave was introduced in April 2024. It gives employees a right to time off to care for someone who is disabled, has a physical or mental illness requiring more than three months’ care or needs care for a reason connected to old age. The review will be carried out in three phases:

• Phase 1: Evidence gathering and stakeholder engagement (winter 2025-6).
• Phase 2: Options development and consultation (winter 2025-6 to autumn 2026).
• Phase 3: Final report (autumn 2026 to winter 2026-7).

The review will look at the implementation of carer’s leave and whether to introduce paid carer’s leave.

Employment Rights Bill (ERB)

On Monday the House of Lords rejected proposed amendments to the ERB. Broadly, the main issues which remain in dispute are:

• Day-One unfair dismissal rights: the Lords voted for a six-month qualifying period.
• Guaranteed hours opt-out: whether employees should be able to opt out of further reviews and offers after the initial reference period and offer of guaranteed hours, and alternative measures on seasonal work.
• Trade union political funds: the Lords again backed a return to the post-2016 opt-in model for union political funds, but the government reaffirmed its commitment to reintroduce automatic enrolment.
• Industrial action ballot thresholds: the Lords voted to retain the current requirement for at least 50 per cent turnout in strike ballots.

The ERB now returns to the House of Commons for further consideration, which may not be until December.

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