The Employment Rights Act completed its passage through Parliament at the close of 2025, marking one of the most significant and controversial employment law reforms in a generation. The government is implementing the changes in stages across 2026 and 2027.
One important date has recently changed. Employers were previously told that the new duty to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, together with the new third-party harassment provisions, would come into force on 1 October 2026. The government’s updated implementation timeline, published on 16 July 2026, has moved these measures to 30 October 2026. The extension of employment tribunal time limits will still take effect on 1 October.
The reforms touch almost every aspect of the employment relationship, including unfair dismissal, industrial action, trade union rights, sick pay, family leave, harassment, redundancy consultation, flexible working and zero hours contracts. Future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change as consultations and secondary legislation progress.
Our updated Employment Rights Act guide for Health and Safety Professionals reflects the final shape of the law and, critically, where the Act landed differently from earlier drafts.
18 December 2025
- Employment Rights Act 2025 receives Royal Assent.
- Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 repealed.
18 February 2026
Trade unions and industrial action
- Great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016 repealed.
- Industrial action notice period reduced from 14 to 10 days.
- Additional public sector ballot support threshold removed.
- Picket supervisor requirement removed.
- Industrial action mandates extended from six to 12 months for qualifying ballots.
- Industrial action ballot papers and notices simplified.
- Political fund rules amended, including removal of the ten-year ballot requirement.
- Restrictions on public sector check-off arrangements removed.
- Certain Certification Officer investigatory and enforcement powers removed.
- Automatic protection from unfair dismissal for taking protected industrial action extended beyond the previous 12-week protected period.
Family leave
- Employees becoming eligible for Day 1 paternity leave and unpaid parental leave could begin giving the required notice.
1 April 2026
- Levy paid by trade unions and employers’ associations to the Certification Officer repealed.
6 April 2026
Family rights
- Paternity leave becomes a Day 1 right.
- Unpaid parental leave becomes a Day 1 right.
- Restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave removed.
- Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave introduced, allowing eligible bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of leave where the mother or primary adopter dies within the child’s first year.
Sick pay
- Statutory Sick Pay becomes payable from the first qualifying day of illness.
- Lower Earnings Limit for Statutory Sick Pay eligibility removed.
Collective redundancy
- Maximum protective award for failures to comply with collective consultation duties doubled from 90 to 180 days’ pay.
Whistleblowing
- Sexual harassment expressly recognised as a matter capable of forming the basis of a protected whistleblowing disclosure.
Annual leave records
- Employers required to keep records adequate to demonstrate compliance with statutory annual leave entitlement and pay requirements.
- Records must be retained for six years from the date on which they are made.
Trade unions
- Trade union recognition process simplified.
- Likely majority test at the application stage removed.
- 40 percent support threshold in recognition ballots removed.
Equality and menopause
- Gender equality and menopause action plans introduced on a voluntary basis.
- Government menopause guidance issued.
7 April 2026
- Fair Work Agency established.
By 31 August 2026
Trade union ballots
- Electronic and workplace balloting introduced for statutory trade union ballots.
- Changes apply to industrial action ballots, trade union elections and other statutory ballots.
1 October 2026
Employment tribunals
- Time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims increases from three to six months.
- For breach of employment contract claims in Scotland, the six-month time limit will take effect on 9 November 2026.
October 2026
Adult social care
- Regulations will be brought forward to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England.
Public sector outsourcing
- Two-tier code reinstated.
- Outsourced private sector employees must be offered terms and conditions that are no less favourable than those of employees transferred from the public sector.
30 October 2026
Sexual harassment
- Employer duty strengthened from taking “reasonable steps” to taking “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees.
- Employers placed under an obligation not to permit the harassment of employees by third parties, including customers, clients, patients and members of the public.
- Ministerial power introduced to make regulations specifying evidence-based steps employers must take to prevent sexual harassment.
- Any specified steps will complement the wider duty to take all reasonable steps rather than replace it.
Trade union rights
- Employers required to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.
- Trade union rights of access to workplaces strengthened.
- New rights and protections introduced for trade union representatives.
- Protection against detriment for participating in industrial action extended.
- Reforms introduced covering access and unfair practices during trade union recognition and derecognition.
- Remaining recognition reforms implemented, including freezing the proposed bargaining unit after an application is received.
December 2026
Seafarers
- Seafarer Protection Regulations introduced.
By the end of 2026
Tipping
- Employers required to consult workers when developing or revising a written tipping policy.
- Tipping policies must be reviewed at least once every three years.
- Workers must be consulted again as part of each review.
- Employers must provide affected workers with an anonymised summary of the consultation feedback.
1 January 2027
Unfair dismissal
- Qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal claims reduced from two years to six months.
- New qualifying period applies to dismissals taking effect from 1 January 2027.
- Statutory cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal removed.
Fire and rehire
- Dismissal or replacement of an employee to impose certain restricted contractual changes becomes automatically unfair.
- Narrow exceptions apply where an employer faces serious financial difficulties and cannot reasonably avoid making the changes.
- Further regulations and an updated statutory Code of Practice are expected to provide additional detail.
During 2027: dates to be confirmed
Pregnancy and maternity
- Stronger dismissal protections introduced for pregnant workers and new mothers.
Bereavement leave
- New statutory bereavement leave entitlement introduced.
- Entitlement will include pregnancy loss.
Zero hours and low hours contracts
- Right to an offer of guaranteed hours based on hours regularly worked.
- Right to reasonable notice of shifts.
- Right to payments where shifts are cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice.
- Final timings will be confirmed following consultation.
Flexible working
- Employers considering refusing a request will be required to follow a statutory consultation process.
- Refusals must rely on one or more of the existing statutory business reasons.
- Employers must explain why they consider the refusal reasonable.
Gender equality and menopause action plans
- Gender equality and menopause action plans move from voluntary to mandatory requirements.
Collective redundancy
- New collective consultation threshold introduced, taking account of proposed redundancies across the organisation rather than only at an individual establishment.
Trade union reforms
- Blacklisting protections extended.
- New industrial relations framework introduced.
- Electronic and workplace balloting extended to recognition and derecognition ballots.
Umbrella companies
- Regulation of umbrella companies introduced.
- Definition of employment businesses expanded to bring umbrella companies within the relevant regulatory framework.
Non-disclosure agreements
- Regulations introduced to prevent the misuse of NDAs in cases involving workplace harassment or discrimination.
