Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to disagree with the Lords in their Amendment 120N to Commons Amendment 120G and their Amendments 120P to 120S to Commons Amendment 120H

Parliament voted on 15 December 2025 to reject a set of amendments the House of Lords had made to the Employment Rights Bill, specifically Lords amendments 120N and 120P to 120S. These amendments concerned the compensation framework for unfair dismissal claims, and the Lords had pushed back against the government's proposal to remove the existing cap on compensatory awards. The Commons passed the government's motion to disagree with the Lords by 311 votes to 96. The vote means the government's position, removing the cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal rather than keeping it at 52 weeks' gross pay or £118,223, survives intact. Ministers argued this change is needed to ensure workers, particularly older employees who face difficulty finding new work and may suffer substantial pension losses, are not left under-compensated. Critics warned that an uncapped system creates uncertainty for employers, makes insurance cover harder to obtain, and could make the UK an international outlier compared with competitors who maintain clear compensation limits. The division was almost entirely along party lines. All 306 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so in favour of the government motion, joined by three Green MPs and three independents. All 90 Conservatives who voted opposed the motion, along with the three Democratic Unionist Party MPs, two Reform UK members, one Traditional Unionist Voice member, one Ulster Unionist and one independent. There were no notable Labour rebels. The Liberal Democrats appear to have been largely absent from the vote, with their spokesperson Sarah Olney voicing criticism of both the legislative process and the removal of the cap, but the party recorded no votes on either side. The result was the fourth time the Bill had returned to the Commons from the Lords in a process known as parliamentary ping-pong.