What the Employment Rights Act means for health and safety
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces major changes to workplace rights, and many of them have practical consequences for health and safety teams. Workforce planning, absence management, reporting routes, training records and workplace monitoring may all need to be reviewed.
This guide translates the key changes into practical actions for health and safety professionals. It looks at issues such as guaranteed hours for zero-hour workers, reasonable notice of shifts, day-one rights to leave and Statutory Sick Pay, strengthened whistleblower protections and new expectations around holiday pay and record-keeping.
It also explores wider workplace culture and safety issues, including trade union rights, industrial action planning, the Fair Work Agency, equality action plans, pay gap reporting, workplace surveillance and the proposed right to disconnect.
Use the guide to understand where employment law changes may affect your day-to-day safety responsibilities, and to start aligning policies, records, training and internal processes with the updated legal landscape.
