The Employment Rights Act 2025

The UK Employment Rights Bill (ERB) marks one of the most significant employment law overhauls in recent years. It aims to modernise UK employment law, improve working conditions and provide greater transparency.

With the Bill now having completed its journey through Parliament and gaining Royal Ascent in December 2025, the Employment Rights Act 2025 has passed into law.

Key changes to prepare for

With the Government maintaining its phased implementation plan throughout 2026 and 2027, employers will see a gradual roll out of the reforms rather than a single moment of change with further guidance expected over the coming months.

Employers should therefore start preparing for what’s coming by reviewing your people policies, contracts of employment, HR practices and risk-management approaches, assessing where current practices will need to evolve to ensure you are in a stronger position when the legislation begins to land.

Here are some of the major reforms and the implementation dates that will have implications for employers:

February 2026

Trade Union reform, including enhancing rights and protections in areas such as balloting, industrial action and recognition.

April 2026

Introduction of “day one rights” for certain family-friendly leave entitlements (for example ordinary parental leave and paternity leave).
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to be payable from the first day of sickness for all workers at a rate of 80% of weekly earnings or the flat rate, whichever is lower.
Establishment of a new Fair Work Agency with powers to enforce payment of statutory payments such as National Minimum Wage (NMW), bring employment tribunal claims on behalf of individuals, and provide legal assistance, support or representation where individuals have raised a claim themselves.
Sexual harassment allegations will expressly become protected disclosures for whistleblowing purposes.
Doubling the maximum protective award for failure to consult in collective redundancy from 90 days’ to 180 days’ pay.

October 2026

Extended time limits for tribunal claims from three months to six months.
Requirement for employers to take all reasonable preventative steps to protect employees from sexual harassment.
Requirement for employers to provide a statement to employers to employees of their right to join a Trade Union and increased rights of access for Trade Unions.

2027

The reduction of the two-year service qualifying period currently required to raise an unfair dismissal claim to six months from 1st January 2027 and the removal of the compensation limit currently in place for unfair dismissal.
New rights to bereavement leave covering a wider set of circumstances including miscarriages from day one.
New requirements on collective redundancy consultation including the need to consider the total number of redundancies across the whole organisation, not just individual workplaces.
Workers on zero-hours contracts are expected to get the right to guaranteed working hours, if they want them and reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for shifts which are cancelled, moved or ended early.
Requirement for larger organisations to create action plans on supporting employees through menopause and reducing the gender pay gap.
Firing and rehiring employees on worse terms and conditions expected to become an automatic unfair dismissal in most cases.

What these changes mean in practice - the risks

Potential risks:

The qualifying period to raise an unfair dismissal claim has been reduced to six months and the compensation limit removed altogether, so dismissals and exits need to be appropriately managed, well documented and legally sound.
Family-friendly leave rights and sickness provisions will increase the complexity of absence management.
Failure to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment could lead to regulators having tougher enforcement powers and increased liabilities for employers who fall short.
Policies, handbooks and contracts of employment will need updating; many businesses may not have capacity to do this inhouse.

What these changes mean in practice - the opportunities

Potential opportunities:

Well-prepared people practices can demonstrate strong culture and compliance with the law which go hand in hand.
Proactive HR support means fewer surprises, a smoother transition to comply with the changes, and a stronger employer brand.
Showing that compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes - it supports employee engagement, retention and employer reputation.

How Hunter Adams can help

At Hunter Adams, we specialise in supporting organisations of all sizes through periods of change. Here’s how we can support you in navigating the ERA 2025:

HR Audit

We’ll review your current contracts of employment, people related policies, dismissal procedures and your working practices. We’ll then identify any recommended updates to ensure compliance with current legislation and best practice, taking into consideration the expected timeframe and content of the changes set out in the ERA (“day-one rights”, dismissal thresholds, etc) and provide a comprehensive report of findings and clear, practical next steps.

Policy & handbook updates

With the likely timing of the ERA changes in mind, we can help you refresh or develop (as required) the following:

Contracts of Employment
Family friendly leave policies
Sickness absence management policy (including references to SSP)
Harassment and bullying policies
Redundancy policy and consultation frameworks

How Hunter Adams can help

Training & leadership support

Policies provide the foundation, management training ensures they are applied in practice. We can deliver tailored training awareness sessions for line managers, HR teams and leadership on:

The changed legal landscape under the Employment Rights Act 2025
Performance management and how to have difficult conversations
How to manage employee relations including sickness absence, disciplinaries, grievances and flexible working
Best practice in managing dismissal/exit conversations
Preventing harassment and handling whistle-blowing disclosures
How to communicate changes internally so your people are engaged, not just compliant

Ongoing HR support & outsourced resource

For businesses without an HR team, or where you need an extra pair of hands, we offer interim HR consultants, outsourced HR services and bespoke consulting projects to ensure you remain compliant and agile from now, through the implementation phase, and beyond. As the ERA is rolled out over 2026-2027, having HR support in place removes the bottleneck of trying to manage everything internally while the business continues to thrive.

Next steps

Get in touch with us if you’d like to talk through where you stand today and what you need to prioritise in your business.
Schedule a policy review – we recommend starting the process now rather than waiting for the law to change. Early preparation means less rush, smoother implementation, better outcomes and lower risk.
Communicate with your leadership team – share the key changes (overview above) and make sure your leaders are aware of the shifting landscape. A proactive culture pays dividends.
Consider your HR resource model – if HR is currently one-person or part-time, now is the time to consider whether your team structure gives you the flexibility and capacity to handle the upcoming changes in a timely manner.

If you’d like to talk about how Hunter Adams can support your organisation with the Employment Rights Act 2025 and beyond, please get in touch. We’d be glad to help you turn change into an opportunity for stronger people practice and business performance.

We’ve compiled various resources on the Employment Rights Act 2025, drilling down into the finer details of the Act. Click on the links below to read them.

→ Video shorts (YouTube)

→ Update on the Employment Rights Act 2025

→ When will the ERB become law – a roadmap for employers

→ Employment Rights Act 2025: economic impact for employers

→ Unfair dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 2025: what’s changing?

→ Family-friendly reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025

→ Trade unions and the Employment Rights Act 2025: what employers need to know now

→ Andrew Knight on the Employment Rights Act 2025: the trade union changes employers cannot ignore

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