Following on the heels of the publishing of the updated dates for implementation of new employment related rights in Great Britain, on 4 February 2026 the UK government has also published two new consultations. These are in relation to:

1. Make Work Pay: fire and rehire – changes to expenses, benefits, and shift patterns
2. Make Work Pay: recognition code of practice and e-balloting unfair practices

Both Consultations close on 1 April 2026.

 GREAT BRITAIN FIRE & REHIRE

This Consultation is seeking views on the definition of ‘Restricted Variations’ i.e. changes that cannot be forced through by way of fire‑and‑rehire. Once in force, the GB Act will make it an automatic unfair dismissal for an employer to dismiss or replace an employee to impose changes to certain core contractual terms—referred to as “restricted variations.”

The government is currently seeking employer and employee feedback on which contractual terms should be protected.

The intention is to prevent employers from forcing through detrimental changes to these terms by threatening dismissal, while still allowing businesses the flexibility to adapt where genuinely necessary.

The Consultation focuses on two areas:

i Employment expenses and benefits:

The government is considering which expenses, benefits, and payments in kind should fall within the restricted variation of “sums payable,” and whether some or all should be excluded.

The options are:

Option 1 – All expenses and benefits or payments in kind are excluded from the restricted variation of sums payable to an employee in connection with the employment.

Option 2 – All expenses and benefits or payments in kind are excluded apart from certain types of share schemes, travel expenses and accommodation.

The government is currently minded proceeding with Option 1 to preserve employer flexibility.

ii Shift patterns:

The Consultation also considers whether certain changes to working hours, rotas, or scheduling should be treated as restricted variations. The options are:

Option 1 – Shift changes from day to night working (or vice versa), and weekday to weekend working (or vice versa), will be restricted variations.

Option 2 – No types of shift pattern changes are in scope of the restricted variation of the timing or duration of a shift.

The government is minded adopting Option 1, limiting fire‑and‑rehire where changes would significantly alter employees’ working lives while maintaining operational flexibility for employers

The position in Northern Ireland (Fire & Re-Hire):

The NI Executive are also proposing to ban fire and re-hire and it is likely that this Consultation will inform the direction of the proposals here. This will be taken forward by way of primary legislation. Indeed in the ‘The Way Forward’ document published by the Executive 28 April 2025, it was acknowledged the approach here aligns to the proposals in GB. Certainly, business will welcome similar definitions being applied here so as to permit some changes.

TRADE UNION RECOGNITION, DERECOGNITION AND ELECTRONIC BALLOTING

The government’s second consultation focuses on updating the Code of Practice on access and unfair practices during trade union recognition and derecognition processes, alongside proposals to regulate unfair practices in electronic ballots.

These updates are required to reflect changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which aims to give workers a more meaningful right to organise. Key legislative reforms include removing the 40% support threshold for union recognition ballots and enabling unions to gain earlier access to workers during the recognition process. [Note these thresholds only applied in Great Britain and did not apply in Northern Ireland.]

The revised Code of Practice will provide statutory guidance on access arrangements and conduct rules during recognition and derecognition, ensuring the process is clearer and more consistent. It will also reflect practical updates such as longer meeting times, increased meeting frequency, and the use of digital access. Importantly, these access and unfair‑practice provisions relate solely to recognition and derecognition and are separate from the wider access rights being consulted on elsewhere.

A major element of the consultation concerns the government’s plan to modernise statutory union balloting by introducing electronic and workplace voting.

Two systems are proposed:

Pure e‑balloting (fully electronic distribution and voting)

Hybrid e‑balloting (postal distribution with electronic or postal voting).

Implementation will be phased—hybrid e‑balloting will be permitted first, with pure e‑balloting for recognition and derecognition ballots introduced later once safeguards are in place. The consultation therefore seeks views on new rules defining unfair practices to prevent interference in electronic ballots, ensuring integrity and security in the voting process.

GB Code of Practice

The government intends to update the Code of Practice to reflect the changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act to the statutory recognition and derecognition process.

Key updates include bringing forward the point at which unfair‑practice prohibitions and union access rights apply—both will now begin as soon as the CAC confirms it has accepted a “relevant application” (covering recognition, derecognition and bargaining‑unit change applications).

The access negotiation timetable has also been shortened: unions will have up to five working days to request access, followed by a 15‑day negotiation period, after which the CAC will have 10 working days to determine access if no agreement is reached.

The window for raising unfair‑practice allegations after a ballot closes will increase from one to five working days.

Finally, when assessing complaints, the CAC will now only determine whether an unfair practice occurred, without considering its impact on the ballot result. These changes aim to streamline the process and provide clearer, more consistent rules for all parties.

The position in Northern Ireland (E-Balloting)

In Northern Ireland, the equivalent body to the CAC is the Industrial Court. Whilst some of the statutory recognition restrictions that apply in Great Britain do not currently apply here, the Executive has signalled its intention to modernise the system and introduce electronic balloting.

This means that several of the proposals on e‑balloting being developed in Great Britain are also expected to be taken forward in Northern Ireland through policy work. However, the actual legal power to allow e‑balloting will need to be set out in primary legislation, which the Executive will bring forward separately.