Employment Rights Bill Unpacked: 'Fire And Rehire'

The Labour government's new Employment Rights Bill, introduced in October 2024, seeks to severely restrict the controversial practice of 'fire and rehire'. But what will this mean for employers in practice? We consider the issues in this article.

The practices of 'fire and rehire' and 'fire and replace' have been the subject of significant attention in recent years. The reforms proposed in the Employment Rights Bill seek to limit the circumstances in which employers can use these practices, making good on Labour's promise to bring an end to so-called "unscrupulous" employment practices, even where it recognises they have been adopted for a "sound business reason".

In this article, we summarise the current position, explain the government's plans and look at their potential impact for employers.