Employment Rights Act of 2025: Key changes and timeline

The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in over a decade, introducing wide-ranging changes to workers’ protections and employer obligations. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, a key legislative milestone that formally enshrined the reforms into law after progressing through Parliament.

Rather than taking effect all at once, the Act is being implemented in phases across 2026 and 2027, giving employers and workers time to prepare for the wide array of new rights and duties.

Some provisions came into force immediately on Royal Assent. For example, rules on minimum service levels in strikes were repealed on 18 December 2025.

The first major wave of changes begins in early 2026. On 18 February 2026, protections for industrial action become stronger: dismissals for taking lawful strike action will be treated as automatically unfair, and a simplified trade union ballot process comes into effect.

From April 2026, there will be several significant changes to the law. These include:

• • ’Day one’ rights to paternity and ordinary parental leave, removing long qualifying periods;
  • Statutory Sick Pay payable from the first day of illness;
  • Doubling of maximum redundancy protective awards from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay;
  • Establishment of the Fair Work Agency to enforce core workplace rights; and
  • Expanded whistleblowing protections.

A further suite of reforms is planned for October 2026, such as changes to harassment prevention duties, tipping policy requirements, extended tribunal time limits, and much stricter safeguards around dismissal-and-rehire practices.

2027 and beyond will see additional measures take effect, including a reduced six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, enhanced flexible working rights, changes to zero hour contracts, the introduction of a statutory bereavement leave and the removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap.

Taken together, this phased approach aims to modernise UK employment law while giving employers and employees clarity and time to adjust to the new statutory landscape.

If you do want any specific guidance around the upcoming changes, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Employment Team at Glaisyers.