LONDON, February 9, 2026: Government apprenticeship reforms could provide a breakthrough in hiring young people or fall victim to bureaucracy. New research from Employment Hero, the global leader in HR, recruitment and payroll software, shows that 73% of SME leaders are ready to take advantage of new support announced in last year’s Autumn Budget. The same data also reveals a warning sign: 43% say navigating the apprenticeship system is too complex, which threatens to deter them from hiring.

With 872,000 young people currently not in employment, education or training (NEET) – the highest level in over a decade – apprenticeships represent a proven solution with 78% of employers seeing an increase in productivity through apprenticeships. However, for the UK’s 5.7 million SMEs, the message is clear: financial support alone will not be enough to drive adoption if administrative barriers persist.

A change in perception

The survey also highlights that perceptions of entry-level career paths have changed, with 78% of leaders having a positive view of apprenticeships. The data suggests that a ‘mixed’ talent model is emerging: 46% of SMEs place the same value on apprenticeships and qualifications, while 37% now place more importance on the career path, leaving only a small minority (11%) who view them as less valuable.

“73% of SMEs want to take up the Government’s apprenticeship initiative. This is great news and highlights that apprenticeship reform has the potential to help solve the youth employment challenge that currently exists in the UK economy.” Kevin Fitzgerald, UK managing director of Employment Hero, said.

“There is clearly a desire on the part of SMEs to give apprentices a key role in the development of their business. This must be accompanied by the government to improve access and remove unnecessary administrative formalities which could prevent SMEs from benefiting from the productivity gains offered by the apprenticeship programme.”

The bill on employment rights remains a hot topic of conversation between employers and employees in the United Kingdom. And with so many changes offered, it is important for business owners and human resources professionals to keep up to date.

The government recently announced in a press release That he would make a number of changes to this bill, after weeks of consultation with groups of employers and employees. While you can read the last proposed legislation hereWe have also broken down the key changes to you below.

Changes have an impact on agency workers and zero hours contracts, penalties to vioder collective redundancy obligations, the legal framework for unions, statutory disease salaries for low employees and compliance gaps for umbrella companies.

Here is a descent of the most important changes in the bill on employment rights.

Agency workers to benefit from zero hours contractual reforms

One of the most important changes mentioned in the bill are the proposals according to which employees and workers on zero hours contracts must be offered a guaranteed number of hours depending on the hours they end up working, subject to very limited exceptions.

The bill also stipulates that workers must receive a reasonable quarter of a quarter, as well as compensation when the quarter -work is canceled or modified in the short term.

The government has now announced that changes will be made to the bill to ensure that these protections are also applied to workers from the agency.

More severe penalties to have violated new collective redundancy obligations

Currently, the law obliges employers to consult employees collectively when they propose to make 20 or more layoffs on a work site. It is important to keep in mind that employers must also inform the Secretary of State for Layouts offered when 20 or more layoffs are taken into account.

The government had previously indicated that it wanted to modify the law so that the obligation to consult collectively (and to notify the Secretary of State) applies when there would be 20 layoffs offered or more Through the workplace as a whole, Not only on a special work site.

In a concession to employers, the government has now downgraded and said that the requirement that the 20 or more employees were to be in a workplace will remain.

However, new amendments to the bill will give the government the power to introduce regulations on a later date to deal with redundancies on several workers

These will allow the government to fix the number of redundancies proposed through the various workers of a company which will trigger the obligation to consult and collectively inform the Secretary of State. The bill will indicate that the number of employees to trigger this must be more than 20.

In other words, the effect of the regulations could be that a collective consultation is only required when there are 20 layoffs or more proposed on a single work Or When there are, for example, 50 redundancies offered on several work sites. But we do not yet know if the number will be 30, 50, 100 or another number.

Another important modification of the bill concerns sanctions for violation of collective redundancy requirements. The current maximum penalty for an employer who violated these provisions is to pay 90 days of pay for each employee who was dismissed without having been consulted. The government has now announced that it would increase the penalty At 180 days, pay by employee for breaking these rules.

He said as part of the announcement: “We want to improve the deterrence against employers deliberately ignore their collective consultation obligations and ensure that it is not financially beneficial to do so. “”

The government has also said that new directives on how employers can comply with their collective consultation obligations will be published.

No provisional relief for offenses to “fire and rehthem” processes and collective redundancy

A question that the government had originally proposed as a Amendment in the billBut confirmed that it will be practiced, the introduction of a “provisional compensation” concerning certain legal complaints from employees. The initial proposal was designed for employees providing a complaint against their employer for breaking the fires and rehiring and / or the rules of collective redundancy.

This would generally be made so that when an employee has filed a complaint concerning the termination of his job, a job court could grant the employee a “provisional compensation” while he was waiting for his request to be determined. This would mean that employers in this position should continue to pay their former employees for the duration of the job court procedure, even if their employment was over. Legislation like this would place a huge financial burden on employers.

The government has now confirmed that it will not pursue this policy, so no change is brought to the bill on this subject.

Modification of laws around unions

The government has declared that it would introduce measures of the bill which will create a modern framework for industrial relations.

This will imply “The update of the legislative framework in which the unions operate to align it with modern working practices.

Country of statutory disease for high wages

THE Bill on employment rights Currently proposes to modify various modifications to remuneration in the event of statutory disease (SSP). The legislation updates suggest making SSP available from the first day of employment, rather than for employees and workers had to wait for the fourth day of absence before it was paid.

The bill also proposes to remove the lower earning threshold which currently works so that employees and workers earn less than £ 123 per week are not eligible for SSP.

An element of this proposed change which was previously clear was what rate of employees and SSP workers who won less than the lower profits threshold would receive. The government has now announced that workers who are in low wages will receive 80% of their average weekly profits or the current SSP rate – the lowest.

Elimination of shortcomings from the company Umbrella

The government has announced that it would introduce measures so that workers do not lose rights and protections when they are engaged through an “umbrella enterprise”. This is a method used by recruitment companies to use a separate entity to employ workers and which can sometimes affect the rights of labor law.

New powers for the government to intervene in the subpaids

The government has also introduced an amendment to the bill which gives it the power to issue employers a notice of sub-payment, covering a period of up to six years, when the employer has not paid an amount under certain legislation (including the minimum wage and statutory legislation in the event of illness). The effect of the opinion will be that the employer is required to pay the employee the relevant amount due to.

Prepare with the job hero

Staying up to date with the evolution of legislation is not easy, especially when you are a busy business owner or a human resources professional. We understand that getting around what new laws mean for your business are also difficult.

To simplify compliance, our team of experts will continue to provide updates while the government publishes them.

For more advice on the bill on employment rights and how it could have an impact on your business, contact our HR advisory team.

At the end of 2024, the Labor Party published a manifesto of the modifications it would make at the workplace if it was in power. It is “Plan to do a work work – deliver a new agreement for workers” Includes a proposal for a new “right to go out” which would prevent employees from being contacted outside working hours. After his elections, the new Labor government has advanced many of its promises as a manifesto thanks to the introduction of Bill on employment rightsHowever, the right to go out was not included in the bill, the ministers proposing to introduce it through separate legislation on a later date.

However, tSunday Times has now reported that the government plans to remove the policy of the right to extinguish, although this The change has not yet been officially confirmed by the British government.

What is the right to go out?

A right to go out has been introduced in many other countries around the world and generally operates so that workers have the right not to respond to emails and calls relating to their jobs outside working hours, except in limited circumstances.

The prospect of this introduction to the United Kingdom has caused the concern for business owners, in particular those working in several time zones or those who must regularly contact staff outside the hours to cope with urgent situations.

The reports now suggest that ministers take a U-turn on this policy and announce that the right to go out will be Hisé shortly. We expect to learn more over the next two weeks.

Why is it rebuilt?

The change of policy is apparently, in order to strengthen businesses, after the recent budget has brought additional costs to employers in the form of an increase in national insurance contributions (NIC).

The source of the government said The Sunday Times,, “The right to go out is dead … We have to reduce business compliance costs as much as possible. Growth that puts money in people’s pockets is the absolute priority of this government. This means making Great Britain the best place to do business, and a key element of this is to remove unnecessary obstacles. »»

Conformity, sorted with a job hero

Compliance making you sweat? Do not be afraid, experts in the compliance of the job hero are there to support you. We will monitor the government’s announcements on what changes others in the bill on employment rights, ensuring you stay in the loop and your business.

For more advice on changes in HR compliance and employment law, Contact our HR advisory team today.