2026 is undoubtedly a year of change for employers, thanks in large part to the Employment Rights Act 2025. HR teams have their work cut out keeping up to date with implementation of the various provisions of the Act and taking steps to comply with the new requirements. Our latest webinar focused on the key employment law developments since April 2026, those that are coming in October 2026 and January 2027 as well as those which are coming later in 2027.

Published: 21 September 2026

Watch the webinar

Introduction

2026 is undoubtedly a year of change for employers, thanks in large part to the Employment Rights Act 2025. HR teams have their work cut out keeping up to date with implementation of the various provisions of the Act and taking steps to comply with the new requirements.

Our latest webinar focused on the key employment law developments since April 2026, those that are coming in October 2026 and January 2027 as well as those which are coming later in 2027.

The key take aways from the webinar are:

Changes since April 2026

• 19 June 2026: the Data (Use and Access Act) 2025 introduces a requirement for organisations to put in place a procedure for dealing with an individual’s complaint about the handling of their personal data.
• 5 August 2026: updated EHRC Services Code of Practice in force.
• 25 August 2026: Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Balloting in force.

Changes coming up in October 2026

• 1 October 2026: the time limit for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal increased to six months.

• 30 October 2026:

  • extended duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees
  • new duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent third-party harassment of employees
  • trade unions to be given right of access to workplaces both physically and digitally
  • employers to provide written statement confirming an employee’s right to join a trade union at the start of employment and at regular intervals during employment
  • new protections for trade union representatives

Changes coming up in January 2027

• from 1 January 2027:

  • reduction in qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims to six months
  • removal of the cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims

• restrictions on an employer’s ability to make a restricted variation to an employee’s contract of employment

Key actions for employers

• audit your workforce to assess the impact of the changes
• update harassment policies and procedures and communicate updates to your workforce
• prepare a written statement of right to join a trade union and issue to new and existing workers
• train your HR teams, payroll and managers
• review levels of interest in union recognition. If a union is already recognised, review your recognition agreement and consider necessary updates. If there is no current union recognition, consider establishing a standing body of elected representatives for consultation purposes