Universities and the Employment Rights Bill: how the proposed changes to employment law may impact the Higher Education sector

With ongoing funding issues threatening financial stability, disputes relating to free speech and academic freedom, and the changing legal and regulatory landscape, the future shape and size of many higher education institutions appears to be riddled with challenges. It is no wonder that the seemingly extensive employment law reforms proposed by the Employment Rights Bill have caused concern across the sector. Although any tangible impact from the Bill won’t be felt for at least another 18 months, all employers, including universities, are encouraged to pay attention to the progression of this Bill and its potential influence on future employment practices.

Where is the Bill now and when will it start to affect Higher Education employers?

In short, we do not yet know when the Bill will impact the sector. Initially introduced into Parliament on 10 October 2024, the Employment Rights Bill, which is intended to revise a number of UK employment rights, completed its second reading in the House of Lords on 27 March 2025. Depending on the volume of amendments requiring further discussion, there is a possibility that this Bill will be enacted this summer.

This does not mean, however, that any final reforms will have an immediate impact on employers as soon as Royal Assent has been received. According to the Government, the majority of reforms set out in the Bill will not take effect before 2026 or later, particularly those reforms requiring further consultations or secondary legislation. Further, the Government has confirmed that it anticipates a two-year implementation period; however, it has not indicated when this period will start. Whilst this may understandably create some frustration and uncertainty about what the Bill is actually going to do and when, universities can take some comfort in knowing that, although a proactive approach is recommended, there is no immediate rush to change their employment contracts and policies to satisfy potential new legal requirements.

Main changes affecting the Higher Education sector: What should employers think about?

The Bill, as drafted and recently amended on 5 March 2025, proposes reforms covering many employment law areas such as qualifying periods for unfair dismissal and parental leave, sick pay, flexible working, collective consultations, fire-and-rehire practices, equality, zero-hour contracts, and trade union rights.

One key question for higher education institutions is where they should direct their attention when preparing for such reforms, especially as there could be further amendments as the Bill continues through Parliament. This article focuses only on the changes which are likely to come into force relatively soon after the Bill has been enacted or areas which are likely to have the most impact on the sector in general.

Industrial relations and trade union rights

Union presence across the higher education sector is rising. The reform proposed concerning loosening restrictions on trade union activity are therefore of particular importance to universities.

The Bill proposes to amend the restrictions on the organisation of lawful industrial action set out in the Trade Union Act 2016 and repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which will have the effect of strengthening the power of trade unions.

Under the Bill, as amended on 5 March 2025 in response to a public consultation on creating a modern framework for industrial relations, the Government intends to make the following changes, amongst others:

• A right for workers to receive a written statement advising that they have the right to join a trade union in their section 1 statement;
• Expanded rights of physical and digital access to workplaces for trade unions through access agreements;
• Easier trade union recognition process by strengthening protections against ‘unfair practices’ such as mass recruitment designed to prevent union recognition and the introduction of a negotiation period with the Central Arbitration Committee;
• Protection against detriment for taking industrial action;
• Reduced notice period for strikes from 14 to 10 days; and
• Extended mandate for industrial action after a ballot from six to 12 months

The majority of the proposed trade union reforms are scheduled to automatically enter into force two months after the Bill is passed. The impact appears to be significant but may in reality be less so for already unionised employers. Universities which already recognise trade unions are encouraged to pay attention to the reforms insofar as it requires them to consider whether any existing employment contracts, practices and arrangements, including any collective bargaining agreements, need to be updated. For any employers, however, with a fully or predominantly non-unionised workforce, the potential reforms represent a call to action to reinforce or implement internal arrangements for managing employee relations in order to mitigate any perception among the workforce that they might need external trade union representation.

Fire and rehire / collective redundancies

Large-scale restructuring has become increasingly common among higher education institutions owing to rising costs of tuition and declining government funding. Although they will not have an immediate impact, certain changes proposed in the Bill will be of particular future relevance alongside the statutory Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement, first introduced in July 2024.

As drafted, the proposed changes to fire and rehire practices are likely to have significant ramifications for universities seeking to restructure or change contractual terms because the Bill proposes to protect employees against unfair dismissal in circumstances where they refuse to accept a variation of contract terms or where they are dismissed and re-engaged (or replaced by another person) on new terms.  Relevant terms include adjustments pay, bonuses and benefits as well as operational changes, such as new working patterns, workplace relocation and updated working practices.

There is a ‘last resort’ defence for employers where they can show that the reason for the variation was to eliminate, prevent, reduce or mitigate significant financial difficulties affecting the employer’s business continuity. Further secondary legislation will be enacted to outline the relevant factors for determining whether a dismissal in this context is fair. This is likely to mean any final changes will take some time before they come into force if extensive further consultation and detailed regulations are required. It is unlikely that any reforms in this area will be implemented before 2026. Nonetheless, universities may wish to prepare by reviewing employment contracts and their redundancy policy and consider whether the terms give them the freedom to implement future plans once the new protections are in place.

If any restructuring necessitates collective redundancies, the original proposal in the Bill to extend the trigger for an obligation to collectively consult from dismissing 20 or more employees within a period of 90 days “at one establishment” to dismissals across the whole business would have had a particular impact on universities with multiple campuses. According to the new amendments introduced on 5 March 2025, this is no longer going to happen. This change in direction potentially reduces the impact of the remaining proposed changes to an additional financial burden only for failing to consult through the increased protective award from 90 days’ to 180 days’ pay per employee. Before this can be confirmed, we will have to wait, however, for further details about the separate “different threshold number”.

Harassment

The key changes proposed in the Bill concerning harassment are the strengthening of the requirement on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, which came into force on 26 October 2024, the inclusion of disclosures relating to sexual harassment become protected disclosures for the purpose of whistleblowing protection, and the reintroduction of employer liability for third-party harassment in relation to all relevant protected characteristics.

Employers are generally encouraged to take steps to audit their current policies, practices and trends to ensure current and future compliance. For universities, this will include reconciling the proposed changes with the new condition C5 of registration on harassment and sexual misconduct introduced by the OfS, which is due to come into force on 1 August 2025, and which prescribes a number of measures in respect of university polices and procedures, decision-making processes and training relating to protecting student and staff from behaviour that may amount to harassment and/or sexual misconduct.

Zero-hour contracts

The roles which are typically filled at universities on a zero- or low-hour contract basis include events staff, outreach staff, invigilators and hourly-paid lecturers. The reliance in the higher education sector on the flexibility of zero-hour contracts to hire skilled workers needed at the last minute when they cannot predict teaching, training and teaching support workload because of seasonal or fluctuating levels of work, particularly during exam periods, is likely to be impacted by the Bill’s reforms.

Under the Bill, employers will be required to offer guaranteed hours to workers on zero hours or ‘low’ guaranteed hours arrangements who regularly work more than these hours over a specific, but yet to be determined, reference period. This will not only apply to an employer’s own workers but also, following the recent amendments introduced on 5 March 2025, to agency workers for whom both the employment agency and the end hirer will be responsible. In addition, shift workers will be given the right to reasonable notice before an allocated shift or if a shift is cancelled or changed, and compensation for any shift changes or cancellations which are notified at short notice. We do not yet know what will constitute “reasonable notice”. The Government has confirmed, however, that for genuinely temporary work, there will be no expectation on employers to offer permanent contracts with guaranteed hours. In addition, workers who wish to retain the flexibility of working under zero-hours contracts will continue to be able to do so.

It is important to note that the proposed changes do not ban the use of zero-hour contracts outright, but they do restrict flexibility. The complexity of existing legislation surrounding this area, and the limited information provided in the Bill and more recent amendments, suggest that further Government consultations and extensive secondary legislation will be needed, which may significantly push back the timeline for the implementation of any finalised reforms in this area. Nonetheless, the proposed reforms on zero-hours contracts have been identified in the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook Winter 2024/2025 survey as an area likely to increase employment costs for employers. Universities may wish to consider the extent of their current reliance on skilled workers with zero- or low-hour contracts as well as the areas which genuinely require temporary work, to determine to potential impact of future changes.

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