Employment Rights Act 2025: The Employer Checklist and Key Dates

Where the Employment Rights Act 2025 stands on 20 October 2026

The Act is law, but much of it is not yet in force: Parliament passed it, it received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 as chapter 36 of 2025, and ministers are bringing it into effect in stages through commencement regulations. Some provisions also need further regulations before they can work, which is why several of the best known reforms, including guaranteed hours for zero-hours workers and the new collective redundancy threshold, have no fixed start day yet.

Two instruments made this year fix the dates that matter most in the coming months. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, S.I. 2026/1065, made on 1 October 2026, bring the sexual harassment duties, the third-party harassment duty and the trade union access and recognition package into force on 30 October 2026. The Commencement No. 4 Regulations, S.I. 2026/559, made on 26 May 2026, bring the unfair dismissal changes in section 25 into force on 1 January 2027.

The government's timeline groups the rest by month or year. It is careful to say that all future dates "remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change", and that longer-term timings stay under review while consultations continue. That caveat matters for planning: dates in 2027 that are not yet set by a statutory instrument should be treated as targets, not commitments. The business.gov.uk employment changes hub, last updated on 15 October 2026, says the same and lists the consultations still open.

The practical consequence is that employers are working on three tracks at once: checking that the changes already in force have been absorbed into payroll and policies, finishing preparations for 30 October 2026 and 1 January 2027, and planning for 2027 reforms whose detail will only be fixed once regulations are published.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 checklist

The table below is the core of this guide: each row is a change made by or alongside the Employment Rights Act 2025, the date it took or takes effect according to the government timeline and commencement regulations, the action an employer should take, and its status as at 20 October 2026.

Change	Effective date	What employers must do	Status
Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness, no Lower Earnings Limit	6 April 2026	Update sickness policies and payroll; pay the lower of the flat rate and 80% of average weekly earnings	In force
Day-one Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave	6 April 2026 (notice from 18 February 2026)	Remove service conditions from leave policies; let HR systems accept requests from new starters	In force
Collective redundancy protective award doubled to 180 days' pay	6 April 2026	Check consultation triggers and timetables for any redundancy programme	In force
Whistleblowing protection for disclosures about sexual harassment	6 April 2026	Add sexual harassment to the whistleblowing policy and train managers	In force
Holiday records kept for six years	April 2026	Keep records showing compliance with leave and holiday pay rules for six years	In force
Gender equality and menopause action plans (250 or more employees)	6 April 2026 (voluntary)	Start drafting a plan; it becomes mandatory in 2027	Voluntary now
Fair Work Agency established	7 April 2026	Review minimum wage, holiday pay and agency worker compliance and records	In force
Employment tribunal time limit raised from 3 to 6 months	1 October 2026 (Scottish contract claims 9 November 2026)	Update handbooks and template letters; keep evidence for longer	In force
Duty to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment	30 October 2026	Refresh the harassment risk assessment, policy, training and reporting routes	Commenced by S.I. 2026/1065
Duty not to permit harassment by third parties	30 October 2026	Cover customers, clients and contractors in policies and client terms	Commenced by S.I. 2026/1065
Trade union right of access and recognition reforms	30 October 2026	Prepare a protocol for access requests and recognition applications	Commenced by S.I. 2026/1065
Unfair dismissal after 6 months' service; compensatory award cap removed	1 January 2027 (by effective date of termination)	Review probation periods, performance processes and any dismissals ending after 1 January 2027	Commenced by S.I. 2026/559
Fire and rehire protections	January 2027	Audit contract variation and flexibility clauses; plan any changes to terms with advice	Timeline date, instrument awaited
Duty to inform workers of the right to join a trade union	January 2027	Prepare the written statement once its form is published	Timeline date, detail awaited
Flexible working: refusals must be reasonable and explained	2027	Revise the flexible working procedure and decision templates	Planned, no fixed day
Guaranteed hours, shift notice and short-notice payments	2027 (timing to be updated after consultation)	Map zero-hours and low-hours workers and their hours patterns	Under consultation
New collective consultation threshold	2027	Track headcount and proposed dismissals across all sites	Regulations awaited
Bereavement leave including pregnancy loss; pregnancy dismissal protections; NDA regulations	2027	Plan policy updates once regulations are published	Planned, detail awaited

Two points stand out. First, the 2026 changes are already live, so any gap in payroll or policy is a current compliance issue rather than a project. Second, the two firm dates ahead, 30 October 2026 and 1 January 2027, are both fixed by statutory instruments, while almost everything labelled 2027 still depends on regulations that have not been made.

Already in force: what should be done by now

Most of the 2026 package took effect on 6 and 7 April 2026, and employers should already have updated payroll, leave policies and record keeping to match it.

Statutory Sick Pay

Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first full day of sickness absence and the Lower Earnings Limit has gone, so lower-paid employees who previously fell outside the scheme now qualify. The weekly rate is the lower of the flat rate and 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings, and GOV.UK gives the current flat rate as up to £123.25 per week, paid by the employer for up to 28 weeks. The government says these changes apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. Employers should have removed references to waiting days and earnings thresholds from sickness policies and checked that payroll applies the 80% cap correctly for part-time and low-paid staff.

Family leave, redundancy awards and whistleblowing

From the same date, Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave became day-one rights in England, Scotland and Wales, the maximum protective award for failing to consult collectively on redundancies doubled from 90 to 180 days' pay per affected employee, and workers who report sexual harassment gained stronger whistleblowing protection, according to the government timeline. The doubled award changes the cost of getting collective consultation wrong, which matters to any business planning a restructuring, including one that is already working with insolvency and restructuring advisers.

Records, action plans and enforcement

The business.gov.uk hub lists a new duty, introduced in April 2026, to keep adequate records showing compliance with holiday and holiday pay rules and to retain them for six years. Employers with 250 or more employees are encouraged to publish voluntary action plans on reducing the gender pay gap and supporting employees through the menopause; the Act allows regulations to make these plans compulsory, and the timeline marks that for 2027. The Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026, bringing together enforcement of the national minimum wage, employment agency regulation and the gangmaster licensing scheme, with powers to investigate and issue civil penalties. It will take on statutory holiday pay and Statutory Sick Pay over time, and the government says holiday pay enforcement will not start before April 2027.

Tribunal time limits and trade union changes

On 1 October 2026 the time limit for most employment tribunal claims rose from three to six months; for breach of contract claims in Scotland the change starts on 9 November 2026. Longer limits mean employers should keep investigation notes and decision records for longer and expect claims to arrive later, and should plan internal grievance and settlement timetables on that basis. Trade union changes already in force include the repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016 from 18 February 2026, simpler recognition tests from 6 April 2026 and electronic and workplace balloting for statutory ballots from 25 August 2026.

30 October 2026: harassment duties and union access

From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees and must not permit employees to be harassed by third parties, under sections 20 and 21 of the Act as commenced by S.I. 2026/1065.

The duty builds on the Worker Protection Act 2023, which from October 2024 already required employers to take reasonable steps. The change is from "reasonable steps" to "all of the steps that are reasonable for their organisation to take". The third-party duty is wider than sexual harassment: the government's guidance says it covers all harassment under the Equality Act 2010, including harassment related to a protected characteristic, apart from pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership. The government gives customers and clients as examples of third parties. Section 22 also lets ministers specify, in later regulations, steps employers must take; none have been made yet. These measures apply in England, Wales and Scotland but not Northern Ireland.

A defensible position by 30 October means four things: a written risk assessment covering the workforce and its contact with third parties; a policy that names third-party harassment and explains how to report it; training for managers who receive complaints; and a record of what was considered and why steps were or were not taken. Groups used to US practice will recognise the exposure from our report on the Tesla race discrimination trial, where California's FEHA carries no damages cap; the UK duty is different in form, but a tribunal will look at the same evidence of what the employer actually did.

The same instrument brings the trade union package into force on 30 October: a statutory right for independent unions to access workplaces, physically or digitally, reforms to recognition and derecognition (including freezing the bargaining unit once an application is received), new rights for union representatives and wider protection against detriment for taking industrial action. Employers without a recognised union should still decide now who will handle an access request and how.

1 January 2027: unfair dismissal after six months

For dismissals with an effective date of termination on or after 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months and the cap on the compensatory award disappears.

Section 25 of the Act substitutes "six months" for "two years" in section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and repeals section 124, which set the limit on the compensatory award. The transitional rule in regulation 4 of S.I. 2026/559 is the detail employers most often miss: the new rules apply where an employee is dismissed before 1 January 2027 but the effective date of termination falls on or after that date. A dismissal decided in December with notice running into January is therefore governed by the new six-month rule.

The government's unfair dismissal guidance for employers adds several practical points. Statutory notice counts as service when calculating whether an employee has reached the qualifying period, whether or not it is given. The qualifying period for requesting written reasons for dismissal also falls to six months, and the qualifying period for dismissals relating to spent convictions is removed. The basis for calculating compensation does not change: tribunals will still award actual and projected losses evidenced by the claimant. Day-one protection against discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal is unchanged, and non-renewal of a fixed-term contract still counts as a dismissal. The changes apply in England, Scotland and Wales, not in Northern Ireland.

The most immediate task is probation. A six-month probation period with a review in month five or six leaves little room once the qualifying period is also six months, so employers should consider earlier reviews, clearer standards and a documented, fair process for any dismissal of an employee approaching six months' service. Employers with staff in London and the regions can compare approaches with lawyers in England who advise on probation and performance management.

Fire and rehire restrictions

From January 2027, according to the timeline, dismissing an employee for refusing a "restricted variation" to their contract, or to re-engage them or replace them on varied terms, will be automatically unfair unless the employer can bring itself within a narrow financial difficulties exception.

Section 28 of the Act inserts a new section 104I into the Employment Rights Act 1996. Restricted variations include reducing or removing pay or other sums payable, changing how pay linked to output or results is measured, changing pension terms, changing the number of hours, changing the timing or duration of shifts in circumstances to be set by regulations, reducing time off, and adding a clause that lets the employer make any of those changes without agreement. The exception for a business that is not a local authority requires the employer to show that the variation was needed to eliminate, prevent, significantly reduce or mitigate financial difficulties affecting its ability to carry on as a going concern, and that it could not reasonably have avoided the change. Even then, a tribunal will consider consultation with the employee and any union or representatives and what was offered in return.

The likely effect is that wide unilateral variation clauses in standard contracts lose much of their value, and that harmonising terms after an acquisition or reorganisation will need agreement or a well-evidenced financial case. Businesses under real pressure should read the exception alongside the insolvency options in our explainer on what happens when a company goes into administration, and buyers integrating a UK target should bring corporate and M&A advisers and employment counsel into the same conversation.

Coming in 2027 and still under consultation

The remaining reforms are scheduled for 2027 without fixed days, and most need regulations before employers can know exactly what to do.

• Guaranteed hours. Section 1 requires employers to offer guaranteed hours to qualifying zero-hours and low-hours workers after each reference period, reflecting the hours actually worked, with linked rights to reasonable notice of shifts and payment for cancelled, moved or curtailed shifts. The reference periods and qualifying hours will be set by regulations, and the timeline says timings "will be updated after consultation".
• Flexible working. Section 9 will allow an employer to refuse a request only on a listed ground, such as extra costs, effect on customer demand or planned structural changes, and only if refusal is reasonable; the refusal must state the ground and explain why it is reasonable.
• Collective redundancy. Section 29 adds a second trigger for collective consultation: a threshold number of employees across the employer, to be set by regulations and never lower than 20, alongside the existing 20 or more at one establishment.
• Family and bereavement. Bereavement leave will extend beyond parents to other bereaved people and to pregnancy loss before 24 weeks, with at least one week's leave; enhanced dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers is also scheduled.
• Other measures. Mandatory gender equality action plans for employers with 250 or more employees, regulations on the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in harassment and discrimination cases, regulation of umbrella companies, extended blacklisting protection and electronic balloting for recognition ballots.

Three consultations are open: on equal pay and pay discrimination until 27 October 2026, and on whistleblowing and on employment status reform and protections for the self-employed until 8 January 2027, according to the business.gov.uk hub. Equal pay is an active area of litigation, as our report on the Tesco Court of Appeal equal pay ruling showed, so employers with large comparator groups may want to respond. Strengthened tipping law is due by the end of 2026, and regulations to establish a Fair Pay Agreement negotiating body for adult social care in England are due this month.

What this means for overseas groups employing staff in the UK

An overseas group that employs people in Great Britain, whether through a subsidiary or a registered branch, is subject to the Employment Rights Act 2025 as their employer, and should treat the checklist above as part of its UK compliance programme rather than a matter for local HR alone.

Geography inside the UK matters. Section 158 of the Act extends the employment rights, redundancy and trade union provisions to England and Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland, where employment law is largely devolved, is outside the unfair dismissal, harassment, collective redundancy and family leave changes, while the Statutory Sick Pay changes apply across the UK under separate Northern Ireland sections. A group with sites in Belfast and Glasgow therefore needs two sets of answers, and may want advice from advisers in Scotland as well as England.

Measure	England and Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
Statutory Sick Pay changes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unfair dismissal after six months	Yes	Yes	No (devolved)
Harassment and third-party harassment duties	Yes	Yes	No (devolved)
Collective redundancy protective award	Yes	Yes	No (devolved)
Day-one Paternity and Unpaid Parental Leave	Yes	Yes	No (devolved)

Several issues come up repeatedly for international employers:

• Global handbooks. Policies written for a parent jurisdiction, particularly where employment is at will, rarely cover the UK's harassment duties, flexible working procedure or sick pay rules. A UK addendum reviewed against the dates above is usually the quickest fix.
• Entity choice. Whether the UK business is a branch or a subsidiary changes liability and tax, as our guide to branch vs subsidiary structures explains, but either way the UK workforce has these statutory rights.
• Sponsored staff. Employees on sponsored visas are covered by the same employment rights, and sponsors also carry Home Office duties described in our guide on how to get a sponsor licence; dismissal and restructuring decisions should be checked with UK immigration specialists as well.
• EU and UK pay rules. Groups preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Directive in their EU entities should not assume the UK follows; our tracker of which countries have implemented the directive covers the EU side, while the UK is consulting separately on equal pay.
• Restructuring across sites. Once the new collective consultation threshold is set, redundancies spread across several UK sites may trigger consultation even where no single site reaches 20.

When to speak to an employment lawyer and what to prepare

Employers should take advice before 30 October 2026 if they have client-facing staff or no recent harassment risk assessment, before any dismissal likely to take effect after 1 January 2027, and before changing contract terms or planning redundancies in 2027.

A first meeting is faster and cheaper when the employer brings the right material. A useful pack contains:

• Contracts audit. Template contracts for each staff group, probation clauses, variation and flexibility clauses, hours provisions for zero-hours and low-hours workers, and any settlement or confidentiality templates.
• Handbook and policies. Harassment, whistleblowing, sickness absence, family leave, flexible working, grievance and disciplinary policies, with the date each was last updated.
• Restructuring plans. Any proposed redundancies, changes to pay, hours or shifts, site closures or post-acquisition harmonisation, with the expected timing and numbers by site.
• HR data. Headcount by site and nation, start dates (to see who reaches six months' service and when), hours actually worked by variable-hours staff, holiday and sickness records, and, for employers with 250 or more staff, gender pay gap data.

With that pack, a lawyer can usually say quickly which items on the checklist are urgent and which can wait for regulations. The Corporate INTL directory lists lawyers and advisers in more than 150 jurisdictions: readers can search employment and labour specialists or browse advisers in the United Kingdom, or use the Find an expert form under this article to submit a request and be put in touch with a member.

The outlook for the Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is moving from statute to practice in a defined order: the sick pay, family leave and enforcement changes are in place, the harassment and trade union package starts on 30 October 2026, and the unfair dismissal reform follows on 1 January 2027, with fire and rehire protections due the same month. The 2027 reforms on guaranteed hours, flexible working and collective redundancy will depend on regulations and consultation responses not yet published, so employers should expect further dates and detail. For continuing coverage, follow our employment and labour news.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Employment Rights Act 2025?

It is a UK Act of Parliament, 2025 chapter 36, that received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. It reforms unfair dismissal, sick pay, family leave, zero-hours work, harassment, collective redundancy, trade union law and enforcement, and is being brought into force in stages between 2025 and 2027.

When does the Employment Rights Act 2025 come into force?

In phases. Some measures applied at Royal Assent, more on 18 February, 6 and 7 April, 25 August and 1 October 2026. The harassment and trade union package starts on 30 October 2026, unfair dismissal reform on 1 January 2027, and most remaining measures are planned for 2027.

What changes on 30 October 2026?

Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees and must not permit harassment by third parties such as customers. Trade unions also gain a statutory right of access to workplaces, alongside recognition reforms and new rights for union representatives, under S.I. 2026/1065.

What is the new qualifying period for unfair dismissal?

Six months instead of two years, for dismissals with an effective date of termination on or after 1 January 2027. The cap on the compensatory award is removed on the same date. The changes apply in England, Scotland and Wales, not Northern Ireland.

Can an employee claim unfair dismissal before six months?

Yes in some cases. Day-one protection against discrimination and against automatically unfair dismissal, such as for whistleblowing, is unchanged. For ordinary unfair dismissal, statutory notice counts towards the six months, so an employee close to that point may qualify once notice is added.

What are the Statutory Sick Pay changes?

Since 6 April 2026, SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness and the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed. The weekly amount is the lower of the flat rate, currently up to £123.25, and 80% of average weekly earnings, for up to 28 weeks. The changes apply UK-wide.

When do the fire and rehire rules start?

The government timeline lists fire and rehire protections for January 2027. Dismissing an employee for refusing a restricted variation, such as a pay or hours cut, will then be automatically unfair unless the employer shows genuine financial difficulty it could not reasonably avoid.

When will zero-hours workers get guaranteed hours?

The timeline places the right to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and short-notice payments in 2027, but says timings will be updated after consultation. The reference periods and qualifying hours will be set by regulations that have not yet been made.

Does the Employment Rights Act 2025 apply to overseas companies with UK staff?

Yes, as employer of staff working in Great Britain, whether through a subsidiary or a branch. Most changes apply in England, Wales and Scotland; Northern Ireland has its own employment law, although the Statutory Sick Pay changes apply across the whole UK.

Sources

1. Employment Rights Act 2025 (2025 c. 36), legislation.gov.uk
2. Department for Business and Trade: Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act, timeline update (updated 14 October 2026)
3. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, S.I. 2026/559
4. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, S.I. 2026/1065
5. business.gov.uk: New employment rights, guidance for businesses and workers (updated 15 October 2026)
6. business.gov.uk: Unfair dismissal rights (updated 30 July 2026)
7. business.gov.uk: Workplace sexual harassment and third-party harassment
8. business.gov.uk: Fair Work Agency (updated 7 August 2026)
9. business.gov.uk: Statutory Sick Pay changes (updated 30 July 2026)
10. GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

About this article

This checklist was researched and written by The Corporate INTL Newsroom, which covers cross-border legal, regulatory and business developments for lawyers, professional advisers and financiers in over 150 jurisdictions. It has been checked against the text of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on legislation.gov.uk, Commencement Regulations S.I. 2026/559 and S.I. 2026/1065, the Department for Business and Trade timeline as updated on 14 October 2026, and the GOV.UK and business.gov.uk employer guidance listed above. Dates for 2027 that are not fixed by a statutory instrument may change. This article is general information, not legal advice; for advice on a specific situation, consult a qualified employment lawyer. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. For more analysis like this, visit the Corporate INTL newsroom or subscribe to Corporate INTL.