Employment Rights Act
Track the Key Provisions and Implementation Phases
The Employment Rights Act was introduced to Parliament on Thursday 10 October 2024. After some ping-ponging the Bill completed its journey through both Houses and received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. The roll out of the provisions of the Employment Rights Act will now begin. The content of this page is now displayed according to the delivery roadmap.
This page was first published on 22 February 2025. The last update was on 9 February 2026.
Employment Rights Act Delivery Roadmap
Phase One
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Phase Two
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Phase Three
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Phase Four
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| February 2026 |
April 2026 |
October 2026 |
During 2027 |
Phase One: 18 February 2026
The first phase of measures relate to Trade Unions and Strike Action.
| Trade Union Simplification |
| Updated: 13 January 2026 |
| Most of the Trade Union Act 2016, will be repealed which will simplify requirements for industrial action, political funds, and ballot and notice procedures. The Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act 2023 will also be repealed and protections against dismissal for taking industrial action will be introduced.
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Phase Two: April 2026
The second phase of measures will take effect in April 2026. These measures include:
| Statutory Sick Pay
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| Updated: 15 December 2025 |
| SSP will be payable from day 1 of an employees sickness, not day four. The Lower Earnings Limit will be removed, making SSP eligible to more employees.
The rate of Statutory Sick Pay increased to £118.75 per week from April 2025. The rate of payment for those below the Lower Earnings Limit will become 80% of their average weekly pay.
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| Paternity Leave and Pay |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
The length of service requirement will be removed, making the entitlement to pay and leave a day one right.
The restriction that prevents paternity leave being taken after Shared Parental Leave will be removed.
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| Bereaved Partners Paternity Leave and Pay |
| Updated: 9 February 2026 |
This new right will be introduced for up to 52 weeks leave if the mother/primary adopter dies in the first year.
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| Annual Leave Records |
| Updated: 27 March 2026 |
In an unexpected development, recent regulations confirm that from 6 April 2026, the new legal duty requiring employers to keep adequate records of workers’ annual leave and pay entitlements will come into effect. The timing of this new requirement, introduced under the UK Employment Rights Act 2025, was previously unknown and had not featured in the Government’s previously published implementation timelines.
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| Unpaid Parental Leave |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
The length of service requirement will be removed, making the entitlement a day one right.
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A new Fair Work Agency will be established that will bring together different enforcement bodies. The agency will have to power to pursue employers who do not comply with statutory provisions i.e. those who take the commercial risk not to provide statutory provisions such as holiday pay, statutory sick pay and maternity and paternity pay.
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| Redundancy Protective Award |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The maximum period of the protective award for a failure to inform and consult on collective redundancies (currently triggered when an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period) will double from 90 to 180 days.
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| Trade Union Recognition |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The process for union recognition will be simplified, both in the initial application stage and at the ballot stage.
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| Whistleblowing: Sexual Harassment Protected Disclosures |
| Updated: 15 July 2025 |
Whistleblowing protections will be amended to specifically cover reporting sexual harassment.
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Phase Three: October 2026
The third phase of measures will take effect in October 2026. These measures include:
| Extension of Time Limits for Bringing Tribunal Claims |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Currently employees have three months from the date of the alleged offence (dismissal, deduction of wages, discrimination etc) to bring a claim with the employment tribunal. Although there is scope to extend this in certain circumstances, including stopping the clock during a short period of ACAS conciliation. The Government amended the Employment Rights Bill in November 2024 and that update introduced an extension of the three-month time limit to six-months. This wasn’t in the initial draft of the Bill, nor was it in the Kings Speech.
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| Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions for a Fair Pay Agreement specifically for the Adult Social Care (ASC) sector, aiming to improve pay, terms, and conditions for care workers. This agreement will be negotiated by a central body composed of trade unions and care provider representatives, with the potential for the Secretary of State to influence the final agreement. The goal is to address low wages in the sector, which contribute to workforce shortages and high turnover rates.
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| Public Sector Outsourcing |
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| The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions related to public sector procurement, specifically aiming to prevent the creation of a “two-tier” workforce during outsourcing. This would involve ensuring that workers transferring from the public sector to a private contractor are treated no less favourably than they were before, and that other private sector workers on the same contract are treated at least as well as those transferred.
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| Trade Union Rights |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
A significant new right for trade unions to access workplaces physically, and to communicate with workers in person or digitally will be implemented.
In addition, a new duty will be imposed on employers to give a written statement to their workers, informing them of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment and at other times. Finally, the protection against detriments for taking industrial action will be extended.
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| Sexual Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The addition of the word ‘ALL’ extends the duty from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps.
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| Third Party Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent harassment by third parties. This wasn’t in the pre-election manifesto. Third party harassment was originally in the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Act 2023 that came into effect on 26 October 2024 but it was removed.
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| Tipping Practices |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to consult with a recognised trade union or worker representatives on their tipping policy, and to review that policy every three years. A consultation on this is anticipated in winter 2025 or early 2026.
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Phase Four: 1 January 2027
| Qualify Period for Unfair Dismissal Reduces to Six Months |
| Updated: 30 January 2026 |
The qualifying period of employment, currently two years, will reduce to six months and the compensation cap for unfair dismissal claims will be removed. These changes will significantly increase risk and costs for owners of SMEs when dealing with poor performance, conduct issues or short-service dismissals.
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| Dismissal and Re-engagement Practices |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The practice of dismissal and re-engagement will only be acceptable when the company is on the verge of collapse. It will be necessary to go through an extensive consultation process before resorting to dismissal and re-engagement.
A consultation was launched in late October 2024 and closed on 2 December 2024. The consultation sought views on the maximum protective award a tribunal can provide to an employee where an employer has failed to comply with the consultation obligations (currently 90 days). Views were sought on whether the employer should be instructed to re-employ the individual or pay normal wages and benefits until the date of full hearing or pay normal wages and benefits from the date of the claim to the date of the full hearing.
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Phase Four: Remainder Of 2027
The Employment Rights Bill strengthens protections against blacklisting, expanding the scope of prohibited activities and broadening the definition of who is protected. Specifically, it addresses the use of blacklists compiled by Artificial Intelligence and third parties, even if not initially created for discriminatory purposes.
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| Compassionate Leave |
| Updated: 13 January 2026 |
All employees will be entitled to a statutory period of time away from work following the death of a relative. There will be a qualifying relationship between the employee and the person who has died. This is likely to mirror the relationship requirements used in the Time of For Dependents and Carers Leave Acts. Where an employee is eligible to leave and experiences more than one death they will be entitled to leave in respect of each death.
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| Flexible Working |
| Updated: 9 February 2026 |
There are no plans to change the process so it remains a ‘right to request’ rather than become a right to have flexible working. However, the Bill says refusal has to be reasonable, from a list of specified grounds for refusal (the eight grounds for refusal remain the same; but the reasonableness requirement is new) and the employer must to explain, in writing, why their refusal is reasonable.
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| Protection from Redundancy For Pregnant and New Mothers |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Enhance maternity protection to prohibit dismissal for 6 months following a return to work from maternity leave; except in specific circumstances.
Currently, if an employee is pregnant, or on statutory family leave, or returning from a period of statutory family leave, they are protected from being made redundant within a certain time frame on returning. What the Employment Rights Bill proposes, is to extend this entitlement for any dismissal, so for instance, a conduct or capability disability.
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| Redundancy Consultation |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Change the law on collective redundancy consultation so that the obligation to collectively consult is triggered by the number of people impacted across the business, rather than in one workplace.
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| Sexual Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Introduce a power to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as “reasonable”, to determine whether an employer has taken ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.
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| Trade Union Provisions |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Phase four of the delivery roadmap will see the strengthening the industrial relations framework.
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| The Employment Rights Bill is set to introduce significant changes to the regulation of umbrella companies in the UK, aiming to ensure workers receive similar rights and protections as those employed directly by recruitment agencies. These changes will effectively bring umbrella companies within the scope of the Employment Agencies Act 1973, subjecting them to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. This means umbrella companies will face increased obligations, including ensuring workers are paid on time, regardless of whether the hirer or agency has paid them.
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| Written Statement of Reasons For Dismissal |
| Employees with two years of continuous service are entitled to receive a written statement outlining the reasons for their dismissal. The act changes the framework, so that employees who have completed six months service will qualify for the statutory right to receive written reasons.
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| Zero and Low Hour Contracts |
| Guaranteed Hours and Notice of Shifts and Moved, Cancelled or Curtailed Shifts |
| Updated: 2 April 2026 |
| Minimum Hours Contracts have been brought into the legislation to prevent employers from replacing Zero Hours Contracts with contracts that provide one hour of work to avoid compliance with zero hours legislation.
Under the new regime the duty will be on the employer to comply, rather than on the employee to request.
The duty will be to provide:
- Guaranteed Hours the employer must make a guaranteed offer of regular hours, which reflects the hours worked in the previous defined period.
- Reasonable Notice of Shifts the employer will be required to provide notice of required and requested hours of hours.
- Reasonable Notice of Cancellation or Change of Shifts where a shift is cancelled or the day of work or start or finish time is changing the employer will be required to provide reasonable notice to the employee.
- Compensation will payable to the employee for previously agreed shifts that are cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice.
A consultation was launched in late October and closed on 2 December 2024. The consultation sought views on the extension of the provisions to agency workers and specifically whether agency workers should be offered guaranteed hours by the employment agency, or by the end hirer and who should be reasonable for serving notice of shifts and cancellation or curtailment of shifts.
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Further measures to be implemented in phase four of the delivery roadmap relate to large employers and specifically to the implementation of gender pay gap reporting and menopause action plans.
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Next Steps
A small number of employment law changes announced in Labours 2024 General Election Manifesto were not included in the Employment Rights Bill and have instead been included in their Next Steps document. These are changes which will require significant consultation and will therefore be implemented at a later date.
| Kinship Carers Leave |
| New: 9 July 2025 |
Kinship Carers Leave is an arrangement where a child is raised by a friend, relative or extended family member other than a parent. The Employment Rights Bill provides that an employee will be entitled to leave if the kinship arrangement is intended to last at least one year and until the child being cared for is 18 years old. An eligible “kinship care arrangement” means, for example, a special guardianship, a special kinship child arrangement, a private fostering arrangement, or a private family arrangement. Where an employee qualifies for kinship carers leave they will be entitled to at least 52 weeks’ of leave.
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| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
Enhance carer’s leave to become a paid entitlement and increase the amount of leave that can be taken.
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Carers Leave is currently unpaid and limited to five days in a 12 month period. Leave is also per employee not per dependant with caring needs. |
| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
| A single status of worker will be created for everyone except the self-employed. Everyone within the single status will be entitled to the same benefits.
A consultation will also be undertaken to determine how a simpler framework to differentiate between workers and self-employed.
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There are currently three categories of worker: ‘worker’, ’employee’ and ‘self-employed’.
The proposal will remove the distinction between the existing worker and employee categories leaving two employment statuses of worker and self-employed. |
| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
Introduce a right for workers to switch off which would include a right to not routinely work outside normal working hours and not to be contacted outside normal working hours.
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In the UK, workers are already protected by various means including limits to working time, the requirement to provide breaks, right to respect for private and family life and an employer’s duty of care to look after their employees’ health and safety. However, there is currently no right to disconnect. |
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Have a question about the implications of the Employment Rights Act?
Speak directly with our CIPD-qualified HR expert with 30+ years’ experience.
|
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