Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act marks a significant shift in UK workplace regulation, reshaping the obligations and responsibilities of employers across every sector. This hub brings together guidance and insight to help organisations understand the key implementation milestones and prepare strategically for the changes ahead.
Key dates for employers
The dates below reflect the timetable set out in Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Our roadmap for delivering change, published by the government in July 2025. Implementation of any or all of the proposals may be subject to change. In particular, we are awaiting the outcome of several consultations, and many others will be launched over the coming months.
Changes to trade union and industrial action law
- The Act repeals the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 which allowed employers to set minimum service levels that had to be maintained during strikes in certain key sectors.
- Requirements imposed by the Trade Union Act 2016 are also being repealed/amended by the ERB:
- The requirement – in industrial action ballots in important public services – for at least 40% of those entitled to vote, to vote in favour of industrial action will be repealed.
- The 50% turnout requirement in industrial action ballots in all sectors will also be repealed.
The amount of information unions must include in ballot notices and industrial action notices provided to employers will be reduced, although not to the same extent. The government considers that employers need more specific information at the point when industrial action is being called, as opposed to merely being a potential outcome of a ballot. - The notice of industrial action that unions must provide to employers will be reduced from the current 14 days to 10 days.
The period for which a ballot in favour of industrial action provides a valid mandate is to be increased from six months to 12 months. - The requirement for union supervision of picketing (by a union official either present at the picket line or readily contactable) in order for industrial action to be protected, is being repealed.
- The Act also simplifies & reinforces current protection from dismissal for taking part in protected industrial action, so that an employee will be regarded as automatically unfairly dismissed where the sole/main reason for dismissal is that they took part in protected industrial action.
- The consultation and response were issued on 21/10/2024 and 04/03/2025 respectively.
Enhanced whistleblowing protection
- The Act provides that disclosing concerns relating to sexual harassment will amount to a protected disclosure under the whistleblowing legislation.
Establishment of the Fair Work Agency (FWA)
- The Fair Work Agency will be established and granted powers to investigate and take action against businesses that don’t comply with employment law. Powers will include: to inspect workplaces and require employers to produce relevant evidence to show compliance, issue notices of underpayment to employers who have underpaid their workers and bring proceedings in the ET on the worker’s behalf. The Government confirmed in July 2025 that it will publish ‘detailed guidance’ on how this power will be exercised.
Changes to statutory sick pay (SSP)
- The Act will make statutory sick pay (SSP) payable from the first day of sickness absence and remove the lower earnings limit for eligibility. For employees earning below the lower earnings limit, SSP will be payable at the weekly rate or at 80% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
Day 1 right to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
- Statutory rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will be available from the first day of employment. The requirement for paternity leave to be taken before shared parental leave will be removed.
Increase in protective award for failing to comply with collective redundancy consultation requirements
- The maximum amount of protective award will be increased from 90 days’ to 180 days’ pay per employee, although ETs will have discretion to vary the award. The consultation and response were issued on 21/10/24 and 04/03/2025 respectively
Trade unions – simpler recognition processes and introduction of electronic balloting
- Currently, the CAC can only accept an application for statutory trade union recognition if it’s satisfied that at least 10% of workers in the proposed bargaining unit are members and a majority of workers in the bargaining unit would be likely to be in favour of recognition entirely.
- The Act will give the government the power to make regulations reducing the threshold to between 2-10% and removes the requirement that the majority of workers would likely to be in favour of recognition entirely.
- Provisions designed to prevent unfair practices during the trade union recognition process will be strengthened e.g. by stopping employers from increasing the number of employees in the bargaining unit via recruitment once CAC has accepted an application for recognition.
- On 19 November 2025 the government published a draft code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots and launched a consultation on the code of practice. The draft code of practice confirms that it plans to introduce three new voting methods, in addition to the existing postal ballot – pure electronic balloting, hybrid electronic balloting, and workplace balloting (this last one for industrial action ballots only). The consultation closed on 28 January 2026.
Enhanced protection against harassment
- Employers are currently under a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work The Act increases this duty to a duty to take all reasonable steps. Failure to comply with this duty can lead to 25% uplift in compensation if an employee succeeds in a sexual harassment claim. In 2027, the government will provide guidance specifying the reasonable steps which will help determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
- The Act makes it an express requirement for employers to prevent harassment of their employees by third parties (note that this covers all types of harassment under the Equality Act 2010, not just sexual harassment). Employers will be liable if they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent the third party from harassing their employee during the course of their employment.
- The Act provides that disclosing concerns relating to sexual harassment will amount to a protected disclosure under the whistleblowing legislation.
- A late change to the draft bill saw the addition of a provision that any clause in an agreement between an employer and employee that prevents an employee from making allegations of work-related harassment/discrimination or disclosing related information will be void and unenforceable. It is not clear when this provision is likely to come into effect as it was announced after the publication of the July 2025 roadmap.
Trade unions – rights of access, duty to inform, protection against detriment and rights for representatives
- The Act aims to establish a process to facilitate the making of access agreements between employers and unions by giving unions a right of access to workplaces that allow them to meet, represent, recruit or organise workers (organising industrial action is excluded). Access agreements won’t be presumed to be legally binding, but the employer/union will be able to complain to the CAC in event of breach. A consultation was issued on 23 October 2025, and closed on 18 December 2025.
- Employers will have to provide workers with a written statement informing them that they have the right to join a trade union. This must be provided with the written statement under s 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
- If the employer fails to do this, an employee will be able to bring a claim in the ET and might be entitled to an award of up to 2 weeks’ pay. A consultation was issued on 23 October 2025 and closed on 18 December 2025.
- The Act proposes that a worker will have the right not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer, where the sole/main purpose is to prevent or deter the worker from taking protected industrial action or to penalise them for doing so.
- The Act introduces a requirement for employers who permit union officials and learning representatives to take such time off to provide them with facilities for carrying out their duties/activities should they request this. The Act also introduces a new right to a reasonable amount of paid time off, and the provision of facilities, for trade union equality representatives.
Tightening tipping laws
- Employers will be required to consult with workers or their representatives before creating a tipping policy, and update their tipping policy every 3 years.
Limitation period for ET claims increased
- The limitation period for most ET claims will be extended from three to six months.
Establishment of Adult Social Care Negotiating Body
- The government will have the power to establish an ‘Adult Social Care Negotiating Body’ for England (with similar bodies to be established in Scotland and Wales). These bodies will be public bodies but will operate independently of government, with representation from both trade unions and employers in the adult social care (ASC) sector.
- The negotiating bodies will work to establish separate ‘fair pay agreements’ for England, Scotland and Wales, which are expected to set minimum standards for pay and terms and conditions but could also cover other employment matters such as training and career progression.
- Once a fair pay agreement is in place, it will apply to all employers and workers in the sector, whether or not they are part of a trade union, and will be legally enforceable.
Mandatory Seafarers Charter
- A new mandatory charter for seafarers will be introduced, imposing higher standards around health and safety, pay, job security and rest breaks.
Changes to unfair dismissal rules
- In November 2025, the Government abandoned its plans to make unfair dismissal a day-one right, instead opting to reduce the qualifying period from the current two years to six months. Somewhat surprisingly, the Government has also confirmed that the cap on the unfair dismissal compensatory award (currently the lower of 52 weeks’ pay or £118,223) will be removed, meaning that compensation for unfair dismissal will be potentially unlimited. The date of implementation of these changes is yet to be confirmed.
Fire & rehire changes
- From 1 January it will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to agree to a change in their terms and conditions of employment where such changes fall within the definition of ‘restricted variations’. It will also be automatically unfair to dismiss and then hire another person (employee or non-employee) on the amended terms to carry our the same work.
- Restricted variations relate to pay, hours and holiday include:
- Negative changes to pay (excluding expenses & benefits)
- Changes to pensions/pension schemes
- Changes to working hours
- Changes to shift timings/duration
- Reduced time off entitlement
- Contract clauses allowing restricted changes without employee consent
- Notably, ‘restricted variations’ do not extend to changes in the place of work or to the employee’s duties.
- There will be an exception if an employer can show that the change in terms and conditions was necessary to lessen serious financial difficulties that were likely to affect the ability to run the business and couldn’t have been reasonably avoided. This will apply only rarely.
- If an employee is dismissed for rejecting non-restricted variations, it will not count as automatically unfair, but the ET must assess specific fairness issues (similar to the existing reasonableness test for unfair dismissal).These include the reason for the variation; any consultation carried out by the employer with the employee or appropriate representatives about varying the employee’s contract of employment; anything offered to the employee by the employer in return for agreeing to the variation; and any matters specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State. A consultation was launched on 21 October 2024 and the response was published on 4 March 2025. A further consultation is expected.
Bereavement leave enhanced
- The Act will introduce a statutory right to at least one week of unpaid bereavement leave as a day one right, if concerning the death of a close relative. Bereavement leave will include employees who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks and employees who have a specified relationship with the person experiencing pregnancy loss, as well as with the baby. A consultation was issued on 23 October 2025 and closes on 15 January 2026.
Improved access to flexible working
- Employers can only refuse a request for flexible working if they can show that the refusal (for one of the existing eight permitted business reasons) is reasonable. The employer will also have to follow a consultation process (yet to be specified) and explain to the employee why their decision was reasonable. A consultation is expected in early 2026.
Gender pay gap and menopause action plans mandatory
- Large employers (those with more than 250 employees) will have to produce gender equality action plans alongside their gender pay gap report. Action plans will need to address what is being done about the gender pay gap and how it supports employees going through menopause.
Changes to zero-hours contracts
- Employers will be obligated to offer contracts specifying a guaranteed number of hours to zero-hours and low-hours workers. The number of guaranteed hours must reflect the average hours worked during a defined reference period, and such offers must be made at the end of each reference period until the worker no longer qualifies as a zero or low-hours worker. It will be deemed automatically unfair to dismiss an employee if the principal reason for dismissal relates to rights concerning guaranteed hours offers. Workers will also be protected from any detriment arising from the exercise of these rights, and non-compliance may result in employment tribunal claims.
- Employers must provide reasonable notice of shifts, cancellations, or changes to scheduled shifts, and offer compensation for short-notice alterations. Workers will be protected from detriment in relation to these rights. However, employers may exclude these obligations through a collective agreement that explicitly replaces them and is incorporated into individual contracts. Following consultation, the government confirmed that these provisions will extend to agency workers. The end hirer will be responsible for offering guaranteed hours to agency workers, as they are best positioned to anticipate future work demands. Both the end hirer and the agency will share responsibility for providing reasonable notice of shifts and changes, while the agency will be solely responsible for compensating workers for short-notice cancellations or adjustments, given that the worker is on the agency’s payroll. New provisions have deemed agency workers as ‘workers’ of the end user (when said agency workers accept a Guaranteed Hours Offer). The consultation and response were issued on 21/10/2024 and 04/03/2025 respectively.
Change to collective redundancy thresholds
- It was originally proposed that the requirement for redundancies to take place “at one establishment”, would be removed, meaning that redundancies across a business would be taken into account when considering collective consultation requirements and protective awards. As this was unpopular with employers, the proposals were amended in March 2025 – now there will be a new alternative threshold where redundancies are made across the business, with the Secretary of State having the power to set this threshold. We do not yet know what the threshold will be, but it could be, for example, 100 redundancies across the business, or a percentage of the workforce.
- The consultation and response were issued on 21/10/24 and 04/03/2025 respectively.
Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women & new mothers
- Pregnant women and new mothers will have the right to be offered suitable alternative roles available ahead of other employees at risk during redundancy dismissals. A consultation was issued on 23 October 2025 and closed on 15 January 2026.
Umbrella company regulation
- The Act will regulate umbrella companies by defining them and bringing them within the remit of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (and subsequently the Fair Work Agency). It intends to ensure that those working through umbrella companies will enjoy comparable rights and protections to those who are directly engaged by recruitment agencies.
Blacklisting
- The Act will give the government power to introduce regulations prohibiting the use, sale or supply of lists of union members or people who have taken part in trade union activities for the purposes of discrimination, even where the lists were not created for such purposes, or where lists are compiled by third parties who don’t have a direct employment relationship with the individuals being blacklisted. The consultation and response were issued on 21/10/2024 and 04/03/2025 respectively.
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The Employment Rights Act represents the most significant shift in workplace regulation in a generation. Our role is to cut through the complexity by helping clients understand what the Act means for them and supporting them with practical, commercially grounded guidance.
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