The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law on 18 December 2025.
The Act will introduce additions and amendments to existing legislation, including the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The employment law changes included in the Act will happen in 2026 and 2027.
Many changes have not happened yet. The advice on the rest of this website reflects the current situation.
Preparing for the changes
Employers should consider the impact of these changes on their organisation.
To help with this:
- watch our Employment Rights Act webinar
- sign up to the Acas newsletter – for updates on employment law changes, news and events
- book on Acas's preventing harassment masterclass – Wednesday 11 November 2026
If you're a worker, some of these changes will affect you. You can also tell your employer about this page.
We'll update this website when anything changes.
Take part in consultations
The government is consulting on parts of the Act, as part of the Make Work Pay initiative. They're seeking views from employers, workers and trade unions. Find the latest government consultations on GOV.UK.
There is also an Acas consultation about requests for flexible working. Closes 17 December 2026.
What's already changed
Some changes took place between December 2025 and October 2026.
Strikes, industrial action and trade union ballots
On 18 December 2025, rules around 'minimum service levels' for strikes were removed. These rules were about keeping services running during a strike.
On 18 February 2026, the following changes happened:
- dismissal for taking part in industrial action became 'automatically unfair'
- the 12-week limit for claiming unfair dismissal because of industrial action was removed
- the time needed to give notice of industrial action reduced to 10 days, instead of 14 days
- the requirement for picket supervisors was removed
- industrial action mandates now last for 12 months, instead of 6 months
- industrial action and ballot notices were simplified
- the 40% public sector support threshold rule was removed – to succeed, ballots need more votes in favour of industrial action than against
Read more about strikes and industrial action
Paternity leave and ordinary parental leave
From 6 April 2026:
- paternity leave became a 'day one right', allowing someone to give notice of leave from the first day of employment
- ordinary parental leave, or unpaid parental leave, became a day one right
- the restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave was removed
Find out more about:
Sick pay
From 6 April 2026:
- statutory sick pay is paid from the first day of illness, instead of the fourth day
- the lower earnings limit has been removed – workers do not need to earn a minimum amount to be eligible for statutory sick pay
Collective redundancy protective award
The maximum 'protective award' for failure to consult in collective redundancy is 180 days' pay. This change happened on 6 April 2026.
Find out more about collective consultation for redundancy
Whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment
On 6 April 2026, sexual harassment became a 'qualifying disclosure' under whistleblowing law. This means whistleblowers making a sexual harassment disclosure have protection from detriment and unfair dismissal.
Find out more about:
Gender pay gap and menopause action plans
Employers of all sizes can voluntarily publish action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps. This change happened on 6 April 2026.
Find out more about:
Holiday records
From 6 April 2026, employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay. They must keep this information for at least 6 years.
Find out more about keeping holiday records
Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency was established on 7 April 2026, to:
- bring together existing enforcement bodies
- take on enforcement of other employment rights, such as holiday pay and statutory sick pay
Find out more about the Fair Work Agency on GOV.UK
Trade union ballots
Trade union members can vote electronically or in-person in ballots. This is if the employer and trade union agree. The change applies to industrial action, union elections and other statutory ballots. This change happened on 25 August 2026.
Employment tribunal time limits
Time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal have increased to 6 months. This change happened on 1 October 2026.
The previous time limit was 3 months. If a problem at work started before 1 October 2026, the 3-month limit might still apply.
Find out about employment tribunal time limits
Harassment
These changes happened on 30 October 2026:
- employers must take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment of their workers – the law previously said 'reasonable steps'
- employers are liable for harassment from third parties, for example customers or clients, unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it
Find out more about:
Trade union recognition
How a trade union can be recognised in a workplace has been simplified.
From 30 October, workers recruited after a trade union recognition application is submitted can be excluded from the recognition process. Applications are submitted to the Central Arbitration Committee.
The complaints process for unfair practice during a recognition ballot has also changed. Trade unions or employers can make complaints within 5 working days of a ballot closing. It was previously one working day.
When deciding a complaint, the Central Arbitration Committee:
- only needs to decide whether an unfair practice happened
- no longer needs to consider if the unfair practice affected the ballot result
Trade union rights of access to the workplace
On 30 October 2026, rules on trade union rights to access the workplace were updated. The right includes physical and digital access to workplaces, helping unions engage with workers more efficiently. This also applies to non-recognised trade unions.
Find out more about trade union rights of access to the workplace
Rights of trade union representatives
From 30 October, employers must allow trade union equality representatives a reasonable amount of time off for trade union duties and training.
Representatives also have a legal right to facilities, if they request them.
Employers, trade unions and representatives must follow the law when agreeing representatives' rights. The Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities sets out how this should be done.
Find out more about rights of trade union representatives
Industrial action protection for workers
Workers taking part in industrial action are protected against less favourable treatment by their employer. This change happened on 30 October 2026.
Find out more about the law on industrial action
Upcoming changes
The following law changes have not happened yet.
Important: In most cases, how these changes will be implemented is subject to government consultations.
November 2026 changes
One change will happen in November 2026. It applies to employment tribunal claims in Scotland.
Breach of contract claims in Scotland
Time limits for making breach of contract claims in Scotland will increase to 6 months. This change will happen on 9 November 2026.
December 2026 changes
One change will happen in December 2026. It's specific to the seafarer industry.
Seafarers' (Wages and Working Conditions) Regulations
There will be new regulations for seafarers. These will introduce higher standards around health and safety, pay, job security and rest breaks. This will happen on 1 December 2026.
January 2027 changes
These changes will happen in January 2027.
Unfair dismissal
From 1 January 2027:
- employees will have the right to claim unfair dismissal after 6 months of being in a job, instead of 2 years
- the limit on compensation for unfair dismissal will be removed
Protection from unfair dismissal was expected to become a right from the first day of employment. The government changed this to a 6-month qualifying period.
Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
From 1 January 2027, employers will have a duty to tell workers about their right to join a trade union. The government will provide a standardised statement for this.
Tipping
From 1 January 2027, employers will need to consult before creating or reviewing a tipping policy. This is either:
- with the trade union or worker representatives, if they have them
- directly with workers, if they do not have a recognised trade union or worker representatives
Employers will also need to:
- share an anonymised summary of consultation feedback with affected workers
- update their tipping policy at least every 3 years
March 2027 changes
These changes will happen in March 2027.
Fire and rehire
'Fire and rehire' will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases. This means dismissing someone then rehiring them on worse terms and conditions. The legal term is 'dismissal and re-engagement'.
An updated Code of Practice to support these changes will be provided in 2027.
Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans for public authorities
Action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps will become mandatory for public sector employers with 250 or more workers. They are currently voluntary.
April 2027 changes
These changes will happen in April 2027.
Bereavement leave
There will be a new right to statutory bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss. The leave will be unpaid.
Collective redundancy
These collective redundancy changes will happen in April 2027:
- employers will need to consider the total number of redundancies across their whole organisation, not just individual workplaces
- increased collective redundancy protection for workers on ships that regularly operate from British ports but are registered outside Great Britain
Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans for private and voluntary sectors
Action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps will become mandatory for employers in the private and voluntary sectors. This is if they have 250 workers or more. This is currently voluntary.
Extended discrimination protections for trade union members
There will be an extension to the laws protecting trade union members from discrimination and being 'blacklisted'. This means being unfairly denied job opportunities or treated less favourably.
August 2027 changes
This change will happen in August 2027.
Electronic balloting
Workers will be able to vote electronically in ballots for trade union recognition and derecognition.
September 2027 changes
This change will happen in September 2027.
Non-disclosure agreements
This law change will void clauses that would prevent workers from alleging or disclosing work-related harassment or discrimination.
October 2027 changes
These changes will happen in October 2027.
Flexible working
There will be an amendment to flexible working law. If an employer rejects a flexible working request, they will have to:
- state the business reason, or reasons from a list of 8 acceptable reasons
- explain why they believe their refusal is reasonable
Acas will review its Code of Practice after the law changes.
Increased pregnancy and maternity rights
The Act will strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave.
December 2027 changes
This change will happen in December 2027.
Regulation of umbrella companies
The definition of agencies will be expanded to include 'umbrella companies'. This will allow enforcement by the relevant bodies.
Other 2027 changes
The government has not announced when the zero-hours and low-hours contract changes will happen.
Important: How this change will be implemented is subject to government consultation.
Zero-hours and low-hours contracts
Workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts will get the right to:
- guaranteed working hours, if they want them
- compensation if a shift is cancelled, shortened or moved to another time
- reasonable notice of shifts and changes to shifts