Employment Rights Act 2025: key dates & employer guide

The Employment Rights Bill is now law. It received Royal Assent on 18th December 2025, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Most of the practical changes in the Act will not happen overnight. This is because the Act is being phased in across 2026 and 2027, with a few key “go-live” dates employers can plan for now.

Key dates to know

• 18th December 2025 – minimum service level rules for strikes were removed.
• 18th February 2026 – trade union and industrial action changes began, including stronger dismissal protection for industrial action.
• 6th April 2026 – day-one Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) reforms, day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. The Fair Work Agency is established.
• October 2026 (expected) – “fire and rehire” restrictions, harassment changes, tipping changes, and employment tribunal time limits extended to 6 months.
• 1st January 2027 – ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced to 6 months, and the compensation cap is removed.
• 2027 (dates TBC for most measures) – bereavement leave, zero-hours / variable hours measures, flexible working amendments, stronger pregnancy / maternity protections and more.

What’s changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025?

Among the many changes being introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, the following nine are highly significant. If you are an employer, it’s a good idea to make yourself aware of them so that you can plan ahead.

1) Unfair dismissal: qualifying period falls to 6 months (from 1st January 2027)

Currently, employees need 2 years’ service to claim “ordinary” unfair dismissal. From 1st January 2027, the qualifying period will be reduced to 6 months. The Act also removes the statutory cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal.

It’s worth emphasising one important point: the Act does not change existing day-one protections for discrimination and “automatic unfair dismissal” grounds.

What this means in practice: your risk point for “ordinary” unfair dismissal moves from 2 years to 6 months. That makes probation management, performance documentation and manager training more important from mid-2026 onwards (because staff hired then will start to cross the 6-month line in 2027).

> DBT Unfair Dismissal Factsheet (PDF)

2) Statutory Sick Pay to be paid from day one & the Lower Earnings Limit removed (from 6th April 2026)

From 6th April 2026:

• SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness absence (instead of the fourth).
• The Lower Earnings Limit test is removed, so low earners who were previously excluded can qualify.
• For some lower earners, SSP is set at 80% of earnings or the flat rate (whichever is lower).

What you should do now: it’s a good idea to review your sickness absence rules, payroll settings and line manager procedures (especially around day-one reporting and fit note processes) so the change is introduced cleanly in April.

> Statutory Sick Pay changes 2026: preparing for “day one” rights

> DBT Statutory Sick Pay Factsheet (PDF)

3) Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave: “day one” rights (from 6th April 2026)

From 6th April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave become day-one rights (subject to notice rules).

You should note that Statutory Paternity Pay remains unchanged and the 26-week qualifying period still applies.

The Government is also introducing transitional rules. Newly eligible parents will be able to give notice from 18th February 2026, to take leave from 6th April 2026. Regulations will apply the new day-one right to paternity leave for employed parents where the expected week of childbirth is on or after 5th April 2026, the child is born on or after 6th April 2026, or the child is placed for adoption on or after 6th April 2026.

> DBT Bereavement, Paternity and Unpaid Parental Leave Factsheet (PDF)

4) Bereavement leave (expected 2027)

The Employment Rights Act creates a new statutory right to unpaid bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss. The framework is set in the Act and the details will be delivered through regulations.

The Act guarantees a minimum entitlement of one week of bereavement leave. It also guarantees a minimum period of 56 days (8 weeks) in which the leave can be taken. The entitlement introduced by the Act is leave only (it is a day-one unpaid right). Any bereavement pay would be at an employer’s discretion unless future legislation introduces it.

> DBT Bereavement, Paternity and Unpaid Parental Leave Factsheet (PDF)

5) Zero-hours and variable hours (expected 2027)

The Employment Rights Act is designed to end “one-sided flexibility” that favours employers, while preserving genuine flexibility for employees who want it. In outline, the zero-hours and variable hours measures include:

• The right to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours worked over a reference period (expected to be 12 weeks).
• A right to reasonable notice of shifts, with regulations setting what is “presumed reasonable”.
• A right to payments for shifts that are cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice.
• For agency workers, separate rules will determine who is responsible for making a guaranteed-hours offer — the employment agency or the end-hirer.

> DBT Zero Hours Contracts Factsheet (PDF)

6) “Fire and rehire” becomes automatically unfair in most cases (October 2026)

The Employment Rights Act will restrict dismissal-and-reengagement tactics. It does this by treating certain dismissals as automatically unfair unless the employer can show severe financial difficulty and that the contractual change was unavoidable.

> DBT Fire and Rehire Factsheet (PDF)

7) Employment tribunal time limits: most claims extend to 6 months (October 2026)

Time limits for bringing tribunal claims are expected to increase from 3 months to 6 months (for all claims) from October 2026.

As a result, it’s wise if you keep HR records and decision trails for longer – issues may surface later.

8) Fair Work Agency: a new enforcement body (from 6th April 2026)

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will bring together existing enforcement functions – including National Minimum Wage enforcement, domestic agency rules and action against labour exploitation – and, over time, its remit can be expanded (for example to cover areas such as holiday pay and Statutory Sick Pay).

Separately, the government has asked the Low Pay Commission to work towards removing ‘discriminatory’ adult age bands, including through recommendations for the 18–20 rate(s). If you employ younger workers, it’s sensible to keep an eye on annual rate announcements and consider whether your wage budget may need to rise faster for 18–20 year olds over the next few years.

> DBT The Fair Work Agency Factsheet (PDF)

9) Equality Action Plans (large employers)

If you employ 250+ people, the Act gives the Government a new power to require you to publish an Equality Action Plan. This is intended to build on existing gender pay gap reporting by adding a practical “what we’re doing about it” plan — including how you’ll address your gender pay gap and how you’ll support employees affected by menopause.

Acas says Equality Action Plans will be voluntary from 6th April 2026 and will become mandatory sometime in 2027 (with the detail set out in regulations and guidance).

> DBT Equality Action Plans and Outsourcing Factsheet (PDF)

What should employers do now?

If you do nothing else, focus on the April 2026 changes first:

1. Statutory Sick Pay – make sure payroll and policies can handle SSP from day one, including for staff who would previously have been below the earnings threshold.
2. Family leave policies – update paternity leave and unpaid parental leave wording, and train managers on the notice rules and eligibility changes.
3. Record-keeping – prepare for longer tribunal time limits and a lower unfair dismissal threshold in 2027.
4. Variable-hours workforce mapping – if you rely on casual labour, start tracking “normal” patterns now so you are not scrambling when guaranteed-hours / short-notice rules come into force.

Need help?

From an accountancy perspective, the biggest early impacts of the Act fall on payroll processes and cash flow forecasting (especially around SSP changes and compliance risk as enforcement tightens). If you would like help, THP can help you plan the April 2026 changes and stress-test the cost impact. We can also support you with payroll outsourcing (or review your current payroll process if you already outsource).

Disclaimer: This article is general guidance only and isn’t legal advice. Employment law can be fact-specific, so take advice on your specific circumstances.