After 14 months, numerous amendments and several rounds of ping pong between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Employment Rights Bill has received Royal Assent becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025. When will the changes take effect?

Published 18 December 2025

Changes at Royal Assent or soon after

On receiving Royal Assent, only certain provisions of the Act actually come into force, some immediately and some within a couple of months. These include:

• the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, removing the requirement for minimum service levels during strikes in key sectors
• the repeal of major elements of the Trade Union Act 2016, resulting in simplification of industrial action procedures, ballots and notices alongside proposals to allow online and workplace balloting
• protections against dismissal for taking industrial action

April 2026

Significant changes will start to happen from this point including:

• the maximum protective award for failure to comply with collective consultation obligations doubling to 180 days. Employers need to ensure managers are aware of their obligations and comply with them in respect of any collective redundancies taking place once this change comes in as the stakes will be that much greater
• paternity leave and unpaid parental leave becoming day one rights. Employers will need to update their policies and procedures in the New Year in preparation for this change
• removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for statutory sick pay. Employers will need to update their payroll systems or ensure their payroll providers are on top of this before the change takes effect
• simplifying trade union recognition procedures to make it easier for unions to meet the requirement for recognition. Employers should review their approach to employee engagement and consider whether setting up or enhancing an employee forum would better support the existing workforce

October 2026

Towards the end of next year, further changes will be brought in, including:

• restrictions on the use of fire and re-hire practices. Employers should consider whether any contractual changes are necessary and look to implement these before the changes take effect
• a new right for workers to be informed of their right to join a trade union, both at the start of employment and at regular intervals thereafter
• trade union rights of access will also be strengthened, both physically and by communications with workers for various purposes including to recruit new members. This is likely to lead to more requests for recognition. All employers, regardless of whether they currently recognise unions, will need to engage with trade unions going forwards
• introducing the requirement for employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
• a new duty on employers to prevent third-party harassment in respect of any protected characteristic
• the increase to the time limit to bring most tribunal claims to 6 months

The current thinking is that the reduction in the qualifying period to bring an unfair dismissal claim, together with the removal of the compensation cap, may also now happen in 2026. Although a compromise on the government’s wish to grant day one unfair dismissal rights, employers will still need to be more rigorous in recruitment and effectively manage probationary periods, keeping detailed records, to ensure that any employee whose employment reaches six months has been properly tried and tested.

And beyond…

There are several other significant reforms under the Act which are now planned for 2027. These include:

• a new trigger for collective consultation obligations that takes into account redundancies across the entire organisation
• greater protections for zero and low hours workers, including those working as agency workers, such as the right to a contract reflecting actual hours worked, reasonable notice of shifts and compensation where shifts are curtailed or withdrawn at short notice
• greater dismissal protection for pregnant workers
• requiring reasonable and explained refusal for flexible working requests
• the introduction of one week of unpaid parental leave

The Prime Minister has called the Act “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”. It is inevitable that these changes will result in more tribunal claims for employers, including from short-serving employees. This may be reduced to some degree by the additional funding for ACAS and the recent change to the length of the Early Conciliation period. However, the already creaking tribunal system will feel greater strain and we can expect longer delays in the time from the start of the claim to the final hearing.