Employment Rights Act - summary

The Employment Rights Bill became law in 2025. This means important changes to employment law.

The table below provides a summary of the changes that will become law from April 2026 and a reminder of changes that are due later in the year.

Area of Law/ the Bill	Date of change, or proposed date of change	Summary of the change	Policy or document that is likely to need amending and updating.	Areas for the employer to consider
Neonatal Care Leave	April 2025	New statutory leave type introduced in April 2025. Up to 12 weeks statutory leave if the baby has a hospital stay in their first 28 days of life. Can be added to maternity leave.	Family Leave policies – ensure this type of leave is covered.	This is statutory leave and, if they qualify, the employee is entitled to statutory pay (SNCP).  Employers may choose to enhance this pay.
Paternity leave and unpaid Parental Leave	6 April 2026	Both types of leave become 'day one rights' – allowing someone to give notice to take leave from their first day in a new job. The restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave has been removed.	Family Leave policies – remove reference to service requirements for these types of leave.	Paternity leave is a type of statutory leave and, if they qualify, the employee is entitled to statutory pay (SPP).  Parental leave is a type of unpaid statutory leave. Employers may choose to enhance this pay.
Statutory Sick Pay	6 April 2026	Right to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from day one of sickness, rather than day four, and from the start of employment. Removal of the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) so all eligible employees, regardless of earnings, will have access to SSP Employees to be paid SSP at a rate of 80% of their normal weekly earnings, or the flat rate, whichever is lower.	Contract of employment (although statutory provisions override any reference to waiting days in the contract) Sickness policies	Remove reference to waiting days. Consider the impact on contractual sickness pay schemes e.g. if there are waiting days to receive contractual pay or where no contractual pay is due for the first few months of employment. Ensure sickness recording systems are in place.
Collective redundancy protective award (20+ affected employees)	6 April 2026	The maximum 'protective award' for failure to consult in collective redundancy will double from 90 days' pay to 180 days' pay.	Redundancy policy	Timeline for proposed redundancies and consultation periods will need to be carefully considered.
Whistle-blowing protections for sexual harassment	6 April 2026	Sexual harassment becomes a 'qualifying disclosure' under whistleblowing law.	Whistleblowing policy	Workers raising sexual harassment concerns gain protection from detriment and unfair dismissal.
Fair Workers Agency established	7 April 2026	The agency will be responsible for enforcing employment rights such as holiday pay, the National Minimum Wage, and Statutory Sick Pay. It will have broad powers, including the ability to conduct workplace investigations, issue penalties for non-compliance, and initiate proceedings on behalf of workers.	N/a	All employers need to ensure they are complying with all aspects of employment law and correctly paying NMW and other statutory payments.
Annual leave records	April 2026	Employers will be required to keep detailed records of annual leave and holiday pay for a minimum of six years from the date the records were created. Records must include: Annual leave taken Annual leave carried over from previous years Holiday pay, including how holiday pay has been calculated and what pay elements have been included or excluded Payments made in lieu of holiday.	Annual leave records	Ensure that annual leave records are kept for a minimum of 6 years. This new legislation was not on the official timeline for ERA implementation and may catch employers ‘by surprise’
Harassment	Likely to be October 2026	The Bill will increase employers’ duties in this area in two ways by: Requiring employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment (not just sexual, but any form of unlawful harassment. Making employers liable if a third party (customer, client, contractor, etc.) harasses their staff if the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.	Policies that cover how the employer addresses Harassment (and Bullying) issues. This could be specific policies or the Grievance policy. Training materials	Ensure the Anti-Harassment policy covers  harassment by third parties. Be clear that harassment of any kind will not be tolerated. Ensure that managers are trained on how to handle complaints. Ensure that all employees can recognise harassment and know where to report issues to. Keep training records to show you took ‘all reasonable steps.’
‘Fire and Rehire’ changes (Some Other Substantial Reason dismissals)	Expected October 2026	Very, very limited situations where the employer can dismiss the employee who won’t accept proposed contractual changes and then offer to re-engage them on different terms. The only circumstance where this will be permitted is the employer can demonstrate financial difficulties. Dismissals for refusing contractual changes to pay, pension, hours and holiday will be automatically unfair. Employers will be able to change some minor terms of employment.	Contract of employment variation clauses	Ensure that contracts of employment have robust variation clauses.  (Although this would not give the right to make unilateral changes). Plan for the change by reviewing current staffing arrangements – do changes need to be made ahead of the new legislation? If an employer is planning to make changes to pay, hours of work or other benefits, consultation should start as soon as possible.
Employment tribunal time limits	Change expected in October 2026.	Time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal are expected to increase to 6 months for all claims. The current time limit for most claims is 3 months.	n/a	Employers to be aware and ensure that records and documents are retained for longer periods of time.
Day-one right to unfair dismissal claims	1 January 2027	Employees will gain the right to claim unfair dismissal after 6 months of employment. Currently, two years’ continuous service is required. The law will apply retrospectively, so any employee recruited on or after 1 July 2026 will gain fair dismissal rights. (Discrimination claims can be made from day one of employment – this won’t change).	Contract of employment Probation policy and arrangements Disciplinary, capability and sickness absence management procedures e.g. if the policy states that a shortened procedure could be applied during probation.	‘Short service’ dismissals, in the first 24 months of employment won’t be possible. Managers will need training in managing the first 6 months of employment effectively. Training to ensure there is more emphasis on recruitment and induction, probation reviews, dismissal procedures.
Zero-hours contracts and guaranteed hours	Expected in early 2027 (but not confirmed)	After 12 weeks’ continuous work, employers must offer a guaranteed hours contract, based on hours worked.  This is after every period of 12 weeks work.   Zero-hours contracts can still exist, but one-sided flexibility will be curbed.  Workers will also gain rights to reasonable notice of shifts Workers will be entitled to compensation for cancelled or curtailed shifts.	Contracts of  employment for casual/zero hours/sessional or Bank staff.	Consider how the legislation can be administered: –      How will the employer ensure they offer a contract after 12 weeks’ work.? –      How will the employer plan shifts to ensure that any compensation for changed shifts is limited? Consider staff planning and the use of zero hours contracts.
Increased pregnancy and maternity rights	Expected in 2027.	Becomes unlawful to dismiss a woman, while pregnant, on maternity leave and within six months of returning to work (with some exceptions).	Family leave policies	Consider training programmes, ensuring managers know dismissal protocols in relation to protected periods.
Flexible Working Requests	Expected in 2027.	An employer will not be able to refuse a flexible working request unless they: state the reasons explain why they believe their refusal is reasonable Any refusal must not just fit into one of the prescribed business reasons but also be reasonable in the circumstances.	Flexible Working Policy Training Materials	A more detailed explanation will have to be provided to the employee and managers may require training to deliver these messages. Look at creative ways to accommodate the request, or ways to agree a compromise with the employee. Start to provide more detailed reasons for refusing a request so that this practice becomes embedded.