Employment Rights Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 1B

Parliament voted on 5 November 2025 to override Lords Amendment 1B to the Employment Rights Bill, with the House of Commons rejecting a change the House of Lords had sought to make to the legislation. The motion to disagree with the Lords passed by 310 votes to 155, a majority of 155. This was one of several motions considered together as part of the Bill's "ping-pong" stage, the process by which the two chambers exchange amendments until they reach agreement.

The Employment Rights Bill is a major piece of legislation that introduces a range of new protections for workers. The central provisions include the right to guaranteed hours for workers on zero-hours contracts, day one rights protecting employees from unfair dismissal from the start of their employment, changes to trade union ballot thresholds for industrial action, and reforms to statutory sick pay. The Lords had sought to amend or remove several of these provisions, and this vote was the Commons insisting on its original position, or in some cases proposing revised government amendments in lieu of what the Lords had put forward.

The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 286 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government's position, joined by SNP, Plaid Cymru, Green Party and most Independent MPs, totalling 310 ayes. The 155 noes came from Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK MPs. There were no significant rebellions on either side. The Liberal Democrats, though supportive of many of the Bill's stated principles, opposed specific implementation choices, particularly around guaranteed hours and probation periods. The Bill sits within a broader government programme to reset what ministers describe as industrial relations, reversing elements of the Trade Union Act 2016 and expanding worker protections that Labour had promised in its general election manifesto.