UK: The Employment Rights Act 2025 receives Royal Assent – Preparing for the road ahead
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Authors Alienor Troletti & Lotte Van Gerwen, Trainee Solicitors
The long-awaited Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent today, marking a significant milestone in what the Government has described as a “once-in-a-generation” transformation of workers' rights.
Whilst the Act sets out a vast framework of enhanced rights, implementation will be staggered over the coming months and years. Several provisions take effect immediately upon (or shortly after) Royal Assent, others will be phased in through April and October 2026, and into 2027, in line with the Government’s roadmap (published this Summer).
In a significant shift this month, the Government moved away from its flagship policy of day-one unfair dismissal rights and confirmed there will be a 6-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection, applying from 1 January 2027.
Much of the detail about many changes remains to be determined through consultation and secondary legislation, meaning businesses still need to keep a watching brief on further developments throughout the year to come.
We summarise below the key changes on the horizon, when they are expected to take effect and the key consultations employers should monitor in early 2026.
What is changing and when?
On Royal Assent / shortly after | |
Trade union and industrial relations | Repeal of various trade union laws and increased protection from dismissal for taking industrial action. |
April 2026 | |
Collective redundancy protective award | The maximum protective award will increase from 90 days to 180 days’ full pay for each affected employee. |
Day-one rights | Parental and paternity leave to become day-one rights. |
Enforcement body | Establishing the Fair Work Agency with wide powers to enforce various worker rights including holiday pay, NMW, and SSP. |
Whistleblowing protections | A sexual harassment disclosure will amount to a protected disclosure for the purpose of whistleblowing protection. |
SSP | SSP available from day one of absence and all employees will be entitled to the lower of the SSP weekly flat rate or 80% of average earnings. |
Electronic balloting and simplified TU recognition process | Electronic balloting to be permitted following consultation on a draft Code of Practice (closing in January 2026). The statutory trade union recognition process to be simplified. Consultation is expected in early 2026. |
October 2026 | |
Fire and rehire | Other than in circumstances of financial difficulty, it will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee because they refuse to agree to a change (a ‘restricted variation’) to key contractual terms (e.g. pay, working hours, pension). It will also be automatically unfair to dismiss or to re-engage the employee or replace them with someone else (including an agency worker or contractor) on varied terms, to carry out substantially the same role. Consultation is expected in 2026. |
Harassment | Liability for third-party harassment to be introduced and the duty to prevent sexual harassment will be broadened to “all reasonable steps”. Regulations are expected in 2027 setting out what amounts to “reasonable steps”. |
Tribunal limitation period | The time limit for claims to be brought in the Employment Tribunal to be extended from three to six months. |
Package of TU measures | New duty requiring employers to notify workers of their right to join a TU and a new right for trade unions to access workplaces. Consultation has recently taken place on these measures. The government will consult in early 2026 on new rights and protections for TU representatives. |
1 January 2027 | |
6-month unfair dismissal protection | The 6-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection will apply from 1 January 2027. The unfair dismissal compensation cap will be removed entirely, with the timing of this change yet to be determined. |
During 2027 | |
Collective redundancy consultation threshold | Collective consultation will be required if there are either (i) 20 or more redundancies at one establishment or (ii) a new higher threshold trigger (to be defined in regulations) is met, possibly based on a percentage or a higher number of employees across the whole business. Consultation is expected in 2026. |
Zero hours contracts | Zero and low hours workers and agency workers working regular hours over a defined period will have the right to be offered a guaranteed hours contract, reasonable notice of shifts and shift changes and compensation if shifts change with little notice. Consultation is expected in 2026. |
Enhanced family-friendly rights | A day-one right to statutory bereavement leave for all employees to be introduced, to include pregnancy loss that occurs before 24 weeks of pregnancy. In addition, there will be enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers. Consultation has recently taken place on these measures. |
Flexible working | Refusing a flexible working request must be reasonable and employers must explain the ground for refusal and why their refusal is reasonable in writing. Consultation is expected in early 2026. |
Equality action plans | Employers with 250+ employees must publish (on a voluntary basis from April 2026 and compulsory in 2027) equality action plans, including gender pay gap and menopause action plans, with penalties for non-compliance. |
Timeframe remains unclear | |
NDAs | Provisions in an agreement (e.g. an NDA) that prevent an individual from alleging or disclosing harassment or discrimination in the workplace, will be void. |
What are the next steps?
The Government will now turn to defining the detailed policy in secondary legislation and regulations, supported by Codes of Practice and guidance. This means a busy consultation period lies ahead throughout 2026.
Employers should monitor these consultations closely, as they will shape how the reforms operate in practice. In the meantime, businesses should audit their existing workforce arrangements and current practices against the new framework, review and update contracts and policies, train and upskill managers, and consider their employee relations and trade union strategy. The road ahead is long, but preparation now will put your business in the strongest position to navigate these transformative changes.
