‘Ping pong’ and the consideration of amendments

In September, the House of Commons started what’s called the ‘ping pong’ phase of the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), where MPs considered and voted on amendments made to the bill in the House of Lords. This was the start of the final phase of the process, where parliament seeks agreement between its two Houses on the legislation.

Royal Assent and the Employment Rights Bill

The disagreements at the ping pong stage, with potential for even more back and forth after 28 October, means Royal Assent for the bill will come later than the government planned.

This is likely to impact some of the consultations scheduled on the government’s roadmap such as the consultation on rules for the new probation period.

There have been some signals from the government that consultations on areas that aren’t being contested in the final stages of the bill would still begin from the end of October. So, despite some delays, the government’s roadmap still gives a good idea of the order those might come in.

The Employment Rights Bill will be one of the biggest changes in employment law in a generation.