As the UK prepares for one of the most significant labour market reforms in a generation, the Work Foundation at Lancaster University convened leading experts and campaigners to explore what the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill (ERB) could mean for job security.

At our online event on 4 November 2025, I joined a discussion with Lord John Hendy (Chair of the Institute of Employment Rights and an employment barrister), and Kate Nightingale (Director of Communications, Campaigns and Research , Young Women’s Trust) which was chaired by Work Foundation Director Ben Harrison. Together, we examined how new day-one employment rights, reforms to zero-hour contracts, and enforcement mechanisms could reshape the landscape of work in the UK.

A step forward – but how far?

New Work Foundation research estimates how the Employment Rights Bill could improve labour market security. It shows that an estimated 1.2 million fewer workers would have experienced severely insecure work if key reforms had been in place in 2023. However, for the Bill to meet its intended aims, Government must safeguard the Bill’s core purpose in primary and secondary legislation, and must ensure rights are robustly enforced.

Estimated reduction in insecurity in 2023 had major changes from the Employment Rights Bill been in place at the time

Source: Work Foundation calculations using ONS Labour Force Survey microdata, 2023 April-June.

Lord John Hendy welcomed the Work Foundation’s research. However, he warned that the Bill may fall short of the promises that the Labour Party made in its original New Deal for Working People in 2022 unless it tackles the fragmented legal categories that underpin insecurity in the UK.

“The elephant in the room,” he argued, “is the three-way division between employees, limb (b) workers, and the self-employed.” With only intent to consult on reforming the categories currently on the table, there is a risk that employers may simply re-categorise workers to sidestep obligations such as offering guanteed hours or day one rights, undermining the Bill’s intent.

Lord Hendy agreed and emphasised enforcement will be key to the success of the Bill. While the new Fair Work Agency (FWA) could strengthen oversight, most cases will still rely on individuals to challenge their employers – while they often lack resources as well as legal skills to do so.

He called for a revival of collective bargaining, “Conducting employment relations through litigation rather than negotiation is a recipe for failure.”

The human impact of insecurity

Kate Nightingale brought a vital human perspective to the discussion, highlighting that job insecurity disproportionately affects young people, women, and Black workers.

“I am thinking about the real-life impact on some of those workers of having increased job security,” she said. “So being able to budget from week to week, month to month. Being able to plan their lives, plan things like childcare.”

For young women, she explained, short-term or casual roles often lack training and progression opportunities: “Young women, even more than young men, are very likely to get trapped in insecure work. So, having that increased job security is likely to have a real knock-on impact.”

The Young Women’s Trust, she added, wants to see the Bill backed by a national awareness campaign to ensure workers understand their new rights — and by a well-resourced enforcement system that’s accessible and responsive. “The Bill needs to be accompanied by a really targeted awareness campaign to make sure workers know what they’re entitled to.”

Challenging the notion that growth and workers protections are mutually exclusive

The panel also tackled the long-running debate about whether stronger worker protections could hinder economic growth. This is potentially a false choice. Instead, driving up the quality of work and the security of work can actually provide an economic boost, particularly in local economies. Kate Nightingale suggested that insecurity drives many women out of the labour market — so improving security could raise participation.

Lord Hendy dismissed fears that employers will cut jobs in response to stronger rights: “Employers don’t hire people to do them a favour, to reduce unemployment; they hire because there is work to be done.”

He called for a shift toward a high-wage, high-spending economy, similar to Scandinavian models, and away from the UK’s entrenched low-wage approach.

What will be the impact of the Employment Rights Bill?

As the discussion closed, the tone was one of measured hope. Nightingale said she was “cautiously optimistic,” provided the Fair Work Agency is properly funded and “has a real targeted focus on marginalised groups of workers and those industries where poor practice and insecurity is most common.” Hendy agreed that the Bill marks a “sea change” but suggested it might not be “as transformational as some people suggest.” He warned it must be followed by deeper reform of worker status and bargaining rights.

In my view, the Employment Rights Bill has the real potential to reduce the prevalence of insecure work. But the Work Foundation’s research also highlights that it doesn’t reduce insecurity to zero. So a lot more remains to be done.

You can watch a recording of the event on YouTube.

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