Employment
Owner Managed Businesses

Robert Turner
June 2026

The Employment Rights Act introduces significant changes to employment law. Employers and HR professionals will need to navigate a complex and evolving landscape over the next two years to ensure compliance. Below is a timeline outlining the key changes we know so far.

December 2025

  • The Employment Rights Bill receives Royal Assent, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025 (“the ERA”).
  • Immediate effect:
    • Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.
  • No other wide-ranging employment rights take effect at this stage.
  • The period following Royal Assent is characterised as pre‑implementation, with employers expected to prepare rather than change operational practices immediately.

January 2026

  • Employers expected to transition from monitoring legislation to active planning for changes due from February and April 2026.
  • The government commenced a number of consultations which are expected to shape and underpin the new obligations created in the ERA.

February 2026

  • Trade union reforms take effect, including:
    • Repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016, simplifying industrial action and ballot notices.
    • Removal of the 12-week limit on protection from dismissal for taking industrial action.

April 2026

  • National Minimum Wage Increase comes into force.
  • Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”):
    • Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period removed meaning SSP is payable from day-one of employment.
  • Day-one rights introduced:
    • Paternity leave.
    • Unpaid parental leave.
  • Collective redundancy:
    • Maximum protective award doubled from 90-180 days’ pay.
  • Whistleblowing protections extended to include disclosures relating to sexual harassment.
  • Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave:
    • Up to 52 weeks’ leave where the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year.
  • Voluntary gender equality and menopause action plans commence.
  • Holiday Pay & Leave Records:
    • Employers now have a legal duty to keep specific, adequate records evidencing compliance with holiday pay and annual leave entitlements, which must be retained for 6 years.
  • The Fair Work Agency is established, consolidating enforcement of several employment rights (with enforcement powers to expand following further commencement).

July 2026

  • Employees hired from late June 2026 onwards will fall within the cohort that gains unfair dismissal protection once the shortened qualifying period takes effect in January 2027.

August 2026:

  • Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots.

October 2026

  • Extension of Employment Tribunal limitation periods to six months.
  • Expanded duty on employers to take all reasonable preventative steps to protect employees from sexual harassment.
  • New employer responsibility to prevent harassment by third parties, such as clients or customers.
  • New requirement for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.
  • Re‑introduction of procurement rules addressing two‑tier workforce arrangements.
  • Further tightening of the legal framework governing tips and service charges.
  • Strengthening of trade union access rights to workplaces.
  • Regulation aimed at addressing unfair practices in trade union recognition procedures.
  • Introduction of additional rights and safeguards for trade union representatives.
  • Extension of protection against detriment suffered as a result of participating in industrial action.

January 2027

  • Unfair dismissal reforms:
    • Reduction of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to six months’ service.
    • Removal of the statutory cap on compensation for unfair dismissal.
  • Restrictions on dismissal and re‑engagement (“fire and rehire”), significantly limiting employers’ ability to impose contractual changes through dismissal.
  • These changes apply to dismissals occurring on or after 1 January 2027, with employees hired from mid‑2026 falling within scope once they reach six months’ service.

During 2027

  • Workforce terms and flexibility:
    • Guaranteed hours and enhanced shift notice rules for zero‑ and low‑hours workers.
    • New collective redundancy consultation threshold.
    • Further reforms to flexible working requests.
  • Equality, family rights and workplace protections:
    • Mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans.
    • Enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant employees and maternity returners.
    • Statutory bereavement leave, including following pregnancy loss.
    • Strengthened sexual harassment regime, including defined “reasonable steps” for prevention.
  • Trade unions and industrial relations:
    • Strengthened industrial relations framework, including extended blacklisting protections.
    • New rights and safeguards for trade union representatives.
    • Reforms to union recognition and consultation procedures.
    • Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting for recognition and derecognition.
  • Regulation:
    • Regulation of umbrella companies.
    • Tighter rules governing the allocation and treatment of tips.

TBC

  • The ERA also provides for additional restrictions on the use of non‑disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) in an employment context; however, these measures do not appear in the revised implementation timetable and the timing remains uncertain.

If you would like to discuss how the ERA will affect you and your business, please get in touch.