Employment Rights Act 2025: What's in Force and What's Coming for Employers

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent in December 2025 and is being implemented in stages. Day-one SSP, day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave and the Fair Work Agency arrived in April 2026. Stronger harassment duties follow on 30 October 2026, and the six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period is expected from 1 January 2027.

Everything below comes from the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update, last updated on 14 October 2026. The government says: “All future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change.” Treat anything after today’s date as an expectation, not a certainty.

What is already in force?

At Royal Assent (December 2025)

• The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 was repealed.

18 February 2026

• Most of the Trade Union Act 2016 was repealed, simplifying industrial action rules and notices.
• Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action.
• Employees newly eligible for day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave could start giving notice.

6 April 2026: the big one for payroll

• Statutory Sick Pay: the lower earnings limit and the waiting period were removed. SSP is now paid from the first day of sickness at £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Our statutory sick pay guide explains the calculation.
• Day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
• Collective redundancy: the maximum period of the protective award was doubled. See our statutory redundancy pay guide.
• Whistleblowing: stronger protection for workers who report sexual harassment.
• Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave (not a Make Work Pay measure): up to 52 weeks of leave if the mother or primary adopter dies in the child’s first year.
• Voluntary action plans on gender equality and menopause support, plus menopause guidance.
• Simpler trade union recognition thresholds.

7 April 2026

• The Fair Work Agency was established. HMRC now enforces the minimum wage on its behalf.

25 August 2026

• Electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots.

1 October 2026

• Tribunal time limits doubled from 3 to 6 months for bringing a claim. In Scotland, for breach of contract claims, this applies from 9 November 2026.

What is coming next?

These are the government’s stated expectations as of 14 October 2026. They can move.

Expected date	Measure	What it means for employers
30 October 2026	Duty to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment	Review harassment policies, training and risk assessments
30 October 2026	Duty not to permit harassment by third parties	Covers customers, clients and contractors your staff deal with
30 October 2026	Trade union access, recognition and representative protections	Relevant if you have, or may face, union activity
October 2026	Fair Pay Agreement negotiating body for adult social care in England	Sector-specific
December 2026	Seafarer Protection Regulations	Sector-specific
By end of 2026	Strengthened tipping law	Hospitality and similar sectors
January 2027	Duty to tell workers of their right to join a trade union	A new information requirement
1 January 2027	Unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced to 6 months; compensatory award cap removed	Probation and performance processes matter much sooner
January 2027	Fire and rehire protections	New protections against dismissing and re-engaging staff to change terms
2027	Mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans	Moves from voluntary to mandatory; detail to follow
2027	Enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers	Affects redundancy and dismissal decisions
2027	Collective redundancy consultation threshold change	May change when collective consultation applies
2027	Flexible working changes	Detail to follow in regulations
2027	Bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss	A new leave entitlement
2027	Regulation of umbrella companies	Relevant to contractor supply chains
2027	Guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and short notice payments	Timings to be updated after consultation
2027	Regulations on non-disclosure agreements in harassment or discrimination cases	Settlement agreement wording

A note on the 2027 items: the timeline names the year but, for most of them, not a month. Detail will come in regulations and consultation responses, so we would not lock in operational changes until those are published.

Which changes matter most for smaller employers?

Most of the trade union measures will pass smaller, non-unionised businesses by. Four changes are likely to matter to almost every employer:

• Day-one SSP. Every sick employee now gets paid from the first day, including low earners who previously got nothing, and SSP can’t be reclaimed from HMRC. It is a direct, ongoing cost.
• The six-month tribunal time limit. Since 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing an Employment Tribunal claim has doubled from 3 to 6 months. Decisions you make today can be challenged well into next year.
• The harassment duty from 30 October 2026. “All reasonable steps” is a higher bar than having a policy in a drawer, and it extends to harassment by customers and clients.
• Unfair dismissal after six months. If the January 2027 date holds, employees with six months’ service will be protected for dismissals from that date, including people you hire now. Recruitment, probation and performance management all need tightening ahead of that.

What should employers do now? A practical checklist

Already due

1. Check sick pay in payroll. Confirm no waiting days are applied and low earners are paid 80% of average weekly earnings where that is under £123.25.
2. Update policies. Sickness absence, paternity and parental leave policies should no longer mention waiting days, earnings limits or service requirements for those rights.
3. Note the new tribunal time limit. Claims can now be brought up to 6 months later, so keep records of disputes and dismissals for longer.

Before 30 October 2026

4. Harassment prevention. Review your policy, run or refresh training, and document a risk assessment covering third parties such as customers and clients.

Before January 2027

5. Probation periods. With unfair dismissal protection expected after 6 months, use probation reviews properly and document decisions within that window.
6. Contract changes. Plan any changes to terms by agreement, with the new fire and rehire protections in mind.
7. Information duty. Prepare to include a statement about the right to join a trade union.

Through 2027

8. Hours and scheduling. If you use zero-hours or low-hours contracts, make sure your records of hours actually worked are reliable, and follow the guaranteed hours consultation.
9. Contractors and umbrella companies. Review how contractors are engaged and paid, including any umbrella companies in the chain.
10. Watch the timeline. Check the official implementation page for updates; it has changed several times in 2026.

The Act changes a lot of employment law at once. How it applies to a particular dismissal, contract or policy depends on the facts, so take advice on individual cases.

How we can help

Several of these changes land directly in payroll: sick pay, leave, tribunal-ready records. Our payroll services keep statutory pay rules current as each phase takes effect. If you employ in the UK through us as your employer of record, we handle these compliance changes for the employees we employ on your behalf.