By Brightmine Editorial Team
What’s already happened
Passage of the Employment Rights Act 2025 – April 2026 changes implemented
The Employment Rights Bill, described as “the greatest shift in employment legislation in decades”, received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and passed into law as the Employment Rights Act 2025. In accordance with the Government’s timeline, the following measures were implemented on 6 April 2026 (7 April 2026 in the case of the Fair Work Agency):
- extended eligibility for statutory sick pay;
- making paternity leave and ordinary parental leave day-one rights;
- simplifications of the trade union recognition process;
- doubling of the protective award from 90 to 180 days’ pay;
- establishment of the Fair Work Agency;
- addition of sexual harassment to whistleblowing legislation; and
- introduction of a duty to make and retain holiday leave and pay records.
What’s happening
This is our summary of the main employment law news and of legislative changes that will be happening, with analysis of what they mean for you as an HR professional.
A new Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures
Acas is consulting on a new Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. It published a draft Code and launched the consultation on 30 July 2026.
The draft code has a greater focus on encouraging employers and employees to resolve disputes informally wherever possible.
Employers can review the draft code and respond to the consultation, which closes on 23 September 2026. It is not yet known when a new code would come into force.
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August 2026
Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting in connection with industrial action
One of the trade union reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 is the introduction of electronic and workplace balloting in connection with industrial action.
The Government has published a Code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots.
The legislation to implement the changes (the Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 and the Code of Practice (Electronic and Workplace Balloting for Statutory Trade Union Ballots) Order 2026) has now been made.
The measures come into effect on 25 August 2026.
What can HR do now?
- Stay informed: Review the Code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots. The code includes practical guidance for employers as well as for unions and independent scrutineers.
- Plan ahead: Consider the issues that would arise from a workplace ballot with an on-site voting station and how the organisation would respond to a workplace ballot request.
October 2026
According to the Government’s Employment Rights Act 2025 roadmap, the following changes will take effect in October 2026.
Extension of employment tribunal time limits
The time limit for someone to make a claim at an employment tribunal is currently three months, for most types of claim. The Employment Rights Act 2025 increases the time limit to six months for all employment tribunal claims.
This measure is due to come into effect on 1 October 2026.
The longer time limit will apply where the event (or last in a series of events) giving rise to the claim occurs on or after 1 October 2026.
What can HR do now?
- Review data retention policies: When the longer time limits come into effect, data retention periods will need to be increased where information is kept for the purpose of defending potential tribunal claims. Check that staff with record-keeping responsibilities are prepared for the change and that data retention periods are enforced in practice.
- Audit dispute resolution practice: The longer period for individuals to bring a claim will mean greater uncertainty for employers where there is a potential dispute. Assess whether there is scope for improving how disputes are handled within the organisation, to achieve early resolution and avoid tribunal claims.
Stronger harassment law
The Employment Rights Act 2025 places an obligation on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers instead of reasonable steps.
The Act also introduces employer liability for third-party harassment. This liability is not just limited to sexual harassment, but extends to harassment on the grounds of age, disability, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
These changes are due to come into force on 30 October 2026.
What can HR do now?
- Audit current practices: Assess current approach to assessing, managing and preventing the risk of harassment, including from third parties.
- Plan ahead: Start preparing now using our Leading practice guides on Building a working environment free from harassment.
- Engage in consultation: Although not confirmed, there is likely to be further consultation on the detail of the regulations.
- Stay informed: Look out for regulations intended to clarify what constitutes reasonable steps (although these are not expected until 2027, which is after the changes have come into force).
Reform of trade union laws – phase three
The Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms trade union legislation. Phase three of the reforms will:
- introduce a right of union access to the workplace (both physical and virtual), to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers, and to facilitate collective bargaining;
- require employers to provide workers with a written statement that they have the right to join a trade union;
- require employers to provide trade union representatives with reasonable accommodation and facilities;
- strengthen protections against unfair practices during the statutory recognition process;
- introduce a right to time off for trade union equality representatives; and
- strengthen protection from detriments for union members and their representatives taking protected industrial action.
On 6 July 2026, the Government published draft Regulations on the trade union right of access to workplaces.
All these reforms are due to come into force on 30 October 2026.
What can HR do now?
- Review current practices around employee relations: In non-unionised organisations, review whether effective arrangements are currently in place for consulting and engaging with staff (eg staff councils). Consider introducing or improving processes to enhance employee relations and engagement.
- Cultivate good relations with staff and unions: In unionised organisations, adopt best practice and cultivate constructive relationships with both unions and staff. Ensure current dispute resolution procedures are effective.
- Training: Provide staff with training on managing employee relations during industrial action, including training on rights of trade unions and their members. This is particularly important in light of the Government’s response to its Make Work Pay: protection from detriments for taking industrial action consultation, which confirms that regulations will be introduced (from 30 October 2026) to prohibit any detriment imposed for the sole or main purpose of penalising, preventing, or deterring a worker from taking industrial action.
- Stay informed: Look out for the Government’s response to its consultation on the duty to inform workers of their right to join a union.
- Plan ahead:
- Review the draft Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces, and prepare for how the organisation would respond to a request for access from a union.
- Review the draft Acas code of practice on time off for trade union duties and activities and prepare for how the organisation would handle time off requests, and provide facilities, for union representatives.
- Separately, the draft Code of practice: Access and Unfair Practices During the Recognition and Derecognition Process deals with access in the specific context of recognition/derecognition processes, so review this code if a recognition request is anticipated.
Protection for workers engaged on outsourced public sector contracts
The Employment Rights Act 2025 enables regulations to be published that would seek to prevent a “two-tier workforce” between employees engaged on the same outsourced public sector service contract.
These regulations are expected to outline specific terms that must be included in outsourcing agreements to ensure that private sector employees engaged on such contracts are treated no less favourably than those who transferred from the public sector under previous arrangements.
The Act also provides for the publication of a code of practice containing guidance on outsourcing agreements.
What can HR do now?
- Audit workforce: Identify individuals who may be entitled to stronger rights to start the process of assessing the impact of the change.
- Stay informed: Look out for new regulations and a code of practice containing guidance on outsourcing agreements.
By end of 2026
Fair Pay Agreement process in adult social care sector to be established
The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides for the establishment of the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body for England, which will have a remit to negotiate a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) on pay and terms and conditions for adult social care workers.
According to the Government’s response to its recent consultation, and accompanying press release, it intends to bring forward regulations to establish the negotiating body in October 2026, with the negotiating body being set by the end of 2026. The first negotiations will begin in April 2027.
What can HR do now?
- Stay informed: If your organisation is part of the adult social care sector, review the Government’s response to its recent consultation on the design of the fair pay agreement process and look out for the regulations.
Tightening tipping law
The Employment Rights Act 2025 places an obligation on employers to consult employee representatives when developing or revising their tipping policies.
Specifically, employers will be required to review their written policy, in consultation with employee representatives (or affected employees where there are no existing employee representatives), at least once every three years.
Additionally, employers that have carried out a consultation will be required to make available an anonymised written summary of consultation responses to all workers.
The Government has said that this measure will take effect by the end of 2026 (it was previously expected in October 2026).
What can HR do now?
- Audit current practices: Assess current approach to consulting staff to determine whether this is adequate to meet these new consultation requirements.
- Stay informed: Review the Government’s consultation response and draft revised statutory code of practice. Monitor further developments, including the expected new consultation on the draft code and additional guidance. Employers should continue to follow the existing code of practice in the meantime.
January 2027
According to the Government’s Employment Rights Act 2025 roadmap, the following changes will take effect in January 2027.
Unfair dismissal qualification period reduced to six months
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will reduce the qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal from two years to six months.
The Government had originally planned to remove the qualifying period completely, so that all employees could bring an unfair dismissal claim from day one in their job. Following pushback from the House of Lords, the Government announced the revised proposal of unfair dismissal protection after six months.
The protection will take effect from 1 January 2027 (meaning that employees hired from 2 July 2026 would gain protection from unfair dismissal after six months).
What can HR do now?
- Audit current practices: Review how often employees are dismissed in the first couple of years of employment, and the reasons for those dismissals. If necessary, consider a different approach to recruitment, onboarding and probation, to rely less on the potential to dismiss an employee if their employment does not work out.
- Review policies and procedures: If you decide to reduce your probationary periods, with the aim that performance reviews can be completed before the employee gains the right to claim unfair dismissal, you should not wait until January 2027.
- Review contracts: Consider using a shorter notice period during the probationary period and provision for pay in lieu of notice, if your contracts do not already include this. Be aware that, if you dismiss an employee without notice, the statutory minimum one week’s notice will be added on to their service for unfair dismissal qualifying purposes.
- Support line managers: Embed procedures to ensure that managers act reasonably when employees are dismissed during or at the end of the probationary period, even where they do not yet have unfair dismissal protection. Check that managers are holding regular performance reviews with probationers and don’t delay identifying and dealing with any issues.
Removal of unfair dismissal compensation cap
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will remove the limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims (the cap is currently £123,543 or 52 times the claimant’s weekly pay, if lower).
The removal of the cap will apply to dismissals where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027.
This change is being made alongside a reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months.
What can HR do now?
- Implement robust dismissal procedures: The need to have fair and robust dismissal procedures will be even more important, given the potential for an unlimited compensatory unfair dismissal award. The risk will be greater when dismissing high-earners, or lower-paid employees who have found it difficult to obtain alternative employment.
- Plan ahead for settlement negotiations: With an uncapped award, expectations of exiting employees in any settlement negotiations are likely to be higher (particularly in senior roles) where the termination date is on or after 1 January 2027.
Limits on use of fire and rehire
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will make it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a “restricted variation” to their contract. A restricted variation includes changes relating to pay, hours of work, holiday entitlement, pensions, clauses permitting unilateral changes, and other terms that will be set out in regulations.
It will also be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee if the principal reason for the dismissal is to employ another person to do the same work as the dismissed employee, or rehire the dismissed employee to carry out the same work but under new terms covering the restricted variations.
There are limited exceptions to these rules if the employer can demonstrate that the business is in financial difficulties and the variation was unavoidable.
The Government has changed its timetable for implementing these measures. They are now expected to come into force in January 2027, pushed back from October 2026.
What can HR do now?
- Reconsider approach to fire and rehire: Think carefully before recommending fire and rehire as a solution to business leaders, considering the significant financial and reputational penalties at stake.
- Stay informed: Look out for the Government’s response to its recent consultation and new regulations that will detail further restricted variations and revisions to the existing code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement, outlining the consultation process that employers will need to follow in cases where fire and rehire is permitted.
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