It is hard to keep up with the pace of change taking place in Great Britain as there is a steady stream of consultations, calls for evidence, consultation outcomes and implementation updates being published across a range of employment law topics.

To help employers navigate these developments, the UK Government has created a central landing Make Work Pay webpage which brings together the various consultations, calls for evidence and supporting documents.

At the time of writing, there are six live consultations namely:

1. Make Work Pay: workplace monitoring technologies (opened on 8 July)
2. Make Work Pay: holiday pay compliance and enforcement (opened on 30 June 2026 )
3. Time off for public duties (opened on 12 June 2026)
4. Make Work Pay: employment rights for unpaid carers and parents of seriously ill children (opened on 12 June 2026)
5. Make Work Pay: ending one-sided flexibility – reforms of zero hours and similar contracts (opened on 2 June 2026)
6. Make Work Pay: misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) (opened on 14 May 2026)

A further number of consultations have now closed or have had consultation outcomes published, demonstrating the scale and pace of the Government’s employment law reform agenda in Great Britain.

The closed consultations in Great Britain include:

1. Threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations
2. Improving access to flexible working
3. Modernising the Agency Work Regulatory Framework
4. Fire and rehire – changes to expenses, benefits and shift patterns
5. Leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss
6. Duty to inform workers of right to join a union
7. Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
8. Fair pay agreement process in adult social care
9. Setting up the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB)

Consultation outcomes published:

1. Draft code of practice on trade union right of access
2. Public Procurement reforms
3. Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting
4. Late payments
5. Protection from detriments for taking industrial action
6. Strengthening the law on tipping
7. Recognition code of practice and e-balloting unfair practices
8. Draft code on electronic and workplace balloting
9. Trade union right of access
10. Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay
11. Collective redundancy and fire and rehire
12. Zero-hours measures and agency workers
13. Modern framework for industrial relations
14. Tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market

Of particular interest to employers in Northern Ireland will be the proposals regarding

Make Work Pay: draft code of practice on trade union right of access

While the approach being taken in Great Britain differs significantly from the proposals currently under consideration in Northern Ireland, developments across the water may nevertheless be of interest to employers monitoring the broader direction of travel in employment relations policy.

Northern Ireland Position

Members will be aware that the issue of trade union access is currently one of the factors affecting progress of the Employment Rights Bill (Northern Ireland).

The Bill is presently sitting with the Executive Office. As part of the process, the Executive Office must approve the legislation before it can be introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly. At this stage, the Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, has not provided that approval, citing concerns regarding the proposed trade union access provisions and the representations made by employers.

Employers Federation Northern Ireland has engaged with other employers organisation on trade union access. We have signed joint open correspondence expressing concerns to the Minister regarding the proposed approach. (See our previous articles)

The current Assembly mandate runs until May 2027. While the Department of Economy has stated there is still time available for the Bill to complete the various stages, the legislative timetable is becoming increasingly challenging.

Should the Bill fail to complete its passage before the current mandate ends, its future direction may depend heavily on the priorities of the next Minister for the Economy and the composition of the incoming Executive.

With the Assembly now in summer recess, it is unlikely that the Bill will make any progress before September 2026.

We will be discussing these developments further at our Annual Conference and, as always, will continue to keep members updated on both the Great Britain reforms and the Northern Ireland Employment Rights Bill as matters progress.