The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law on 18 December 2025, and the Government has confirmed it will be introduced in stages across 2026 and 2027, with a significant amount of operational detail still to be set through consultation and secondary legislation.
In its updated implementation timetable (updated 4 February 2026), the Department for Business and Trade reaffirmed that only a small number of provisions have taken effect immediately (including the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023) and set out the next tranche of changes employers should plan for.
From 18 February 2026, the changes are mainly focused on trade union and industrial action reforms, including repealing most of the Trade Union Act 2016, simplifying industrial action requirements and introducing stronger protections against dismissal for taking industrial action; this date also allows newly eligible employees to begin giving notice for the incoming “day one” paternity and unpaid parental leave changes.
The next major employment law “go-live” date is 6 April 2026, when “day one” paternity leave and unpaid parental leave take effect, Statutory Sick Pay is expanded by removing the Lower Earnings Limit and the waiting period, the maximum protective award for collective redundancy consultation failures is doubled, and whistleblowing protections are strengthened where workers raise concerns about sexual harassment; Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave is also introduced (up to 52 weeks where the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year). A further structural change follows on 7 April 2026 with the establishment of the Fair Work Agency, intended to support enforcement in key areas.
Later in October 2026, the timetable flags a range of reforms including new duties requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment and to not permit third-party harassment of employees, along with changes to trade union rights and access; the Government also expects changes to Employment Tribunal time limits in October 2026.
The most notable recent shift is that the Government has delayed its “fire and rehire” reforms until January 2027 (previously expected in October 2026), alongside the reduction of the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months (for dismissals from 1 January 2027) and the removal of the cap on compensatory awards. Looking further into 2027, the Government’s roadmap includes additional reforms such as further flexible working measures, enhanced protections for pregnant workers and new mothers, bereavement leave including pregnancy loss, and measures aimed at ending exploitative use of zero-hours contracts, but these remain subject to further detail and timing as regulations develop.
"For not-for-profit employers, the immediate practical focus is likely to be workforce planning and budgeting for April 2026 changes (particularly expanded SSP coverage and the new day-one leave entitlements), ensuring redundancy and consultation processes are robust given the higher potential protective award exposure, and reviewing harassment policies, training and incident handling ahead of the October 2026 duties - especially where staff interact with members of the public, service users or beneficiaries."
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