Upcoming Changes

This page summarises employment law changes that are expected in the future. For recent changes that are now in force, please see the Recent Changes page.

You will also receive notifications about any changes or updates to the below, new proposals regarding employment law and when further details as they become available.

The Employment Bill/ Employment Rights Act

The Employment Rights Bill was originally introduced on 10 October 2024. It represents a significant overhaul of UK employment law, marking the most substantial changes in over three decades.

This Bill aims to enhance workers' rights and provide a more balanced framework for both employees and employers. This was given royal assent and became part of the Employment Right Act on 16 December 2025.

The proposed changes are extensive, covering various aspects of employment law, including unfair dismissal, flexible working, zero-hours contracts, and more.  

Different elements of the Bill will be implemented over the next few years.

On this page we summarise the key changes that will impact SMEs and the proposed dates for implementation.

On 1st July 2025 the government published its Road map for the implementation of the Bill Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: our roadmap for delivering change confirming the dates for implementation, and then updated this on 3 February 2026, as summarised below:

Date

Planned

 Description

18 February 2026

Trade Union Rights
The Act enhances trade union rights, simplifying the recognition process and allowing electronic balloting. These changes aim to strengthen workers' collective bargaining power and ensure fair treatment during redundancies.

April 2026

Collective Redundancy – Protective Award
If an organisation fails to consult correctly in line with collective consultation requirements (i.e. where there are more than 20 redundancies proposed), employees can be awarded compensation of up to 90 days' pay.  The Act will double this maximum to 180 days.  

April 2026

 Establishment of the Fair Work Agency
A new enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency, will be established to consolidate existing enforcement functions and ensure compliance with employment rights such as statutory sick pay, national minimum wage, holiday pay, agency worker rights and modern slaver. This agency will have the authority to investigate, take action against non-compliant businesses and bring Employment Tribunal proceedings on behalf of a worker. This will provide a robust mechanism for enforcing new rights and protections introduced by the Act (and other areas of employment law).

 April 2026

 Statutory Sick Pay
Significant changes are proposed for statutory sick pay (SSP). The Act will remove the waiting period of 3 days before SSP is paid, making it available from the first day of absence. It will also remove the lower earnings limit for SSP, bringing all employees within the scope of SSP payments, meaning worked would be entitled to either the SSP rate or 80% of their normal wages (whichever is lower). It is estimated that this will affect up to 1.3 million working people.

 April 2026

Family Leave
A day-one right for paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, will be introduced, providing support for employees facing family-related challenges. Eligibility for statutory paternity pay will remain unchanged. 

April 2026

Trade Union Recognition Rules Change
The Act will make changes to holding a ballot for recognition, workers in a proposed bargaining and enhancing other protections. 

April 2026

Whistleblowers Protection Widened 
The Act strengthens whistleblowing protections by clarifying that disclosures of sexual harassment can be covered by whistleblowing legislation and by extending protection to a wider range of workers (self-employed contractors, sub-postmasters, judiciary, non-execs, trustees, trade union reps, and job applicants).

October 2026

 Strengthened Protections Against Harassment
The Act introduces strengthened protections against workplace harassment, including third-party harassment which will become a standalone claim. Employers will be required to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent harassment, raising the standard from the previous requirement of "reasonable steps." 

October 2026

 Employment Tribunal Time Limits
The time limits to make a claim to an employment tribunal will be extended from 3 months to 6 months for the majority of claims (including discrimination and unfair dismissal)." 

October 2026

Tightening tipping laws
Employers will need to consult with their workers or their representatives before creating a tipping policy and update their policy every 3 years, consulting each time

October 2026

Trade Union Statement
Employers will be under a requirement to provide a statement to an employee, at the same time as their statement of main terms, to inform them that they have the right to join a trade union.

October 2026

Trade union access to workplace rights and enhanced protections for union activity
The Act will be updating rules on a trade unions right of access to the workplace, provide a new right to reasonable accommodation and facilities for trade union reps carrying out their duties, a new statutory role of union equality and protection against detriment. 

1 January 2027

Unfair Dismissal and Day-One Rights
The Government confirmed that the proposed one-day right for unfair dismissal will be replaced by changing the qualifying period of unfair dismissal from two years to 6 months.

This is a welcome change from the proposed day-one right, but does mean that employers will need to assess new starters more robustly in the first few months and are less likely to give them additional times to meet standards as this would increase risk and require full procedures around unfair dismissal to be carried out plus the general risk of a claim. 

January 2027

Removal of unfair dismissal cap
The cap of 52 weeks wages or £118,223.00 (whichever is lower) for the compensatory unfair dismissal award will be removed. 

January 2027

Restrictions on Fire and Rehire Practices
The Act seeks to restrict the controversial practice of "fire and rehire," where employees are dismissed and re-engaged under new terms. It will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to accept a contract variation unless for limited exceptions when the employer can demonstrate that the changes are necessary to address financial difficulties threatening the business's viability. 

2027

Flexible Working as a Default Right
The Act proposes making flexible working a default right, requiring employers to grant flexible working requests unless it is unreasonable to do so. Employers must provide clear reasons for any refusal, ensuring transparency and fairness in the decision-making process. 

2027

Zero-Hours Contracts and Guaranteed Hours
The Act addresses the issue of zero-hours contracts by requiring employers to offer guaranteed-hours contracts to workers who regularly work more hours than their contracts indicate. This change aims to provide greater job security and predictability for workers. Employers must also give reasonable notice of any shift changes and compensate workers for late cancellations, ensuring fair treatment and reducing the exploitation of zero-hours contracts.

2027

Collective Redundancy
The Act proposes changes to collective redundancy consultation requirements, removing the "single establishment" limitation. This means that collective consultation obligations will apply across the entire business, not just at individual sites. 

2027

Bereavement Leave
The Act will expand the scope of bereavement leave to apply more broadly than on the loss of a child, introducing a new day one right to at least one week of leave following the loss of a loved one. Exactly who this will entail will be set out in regulations, although it would be surprising if spouses, parents and siblings were not covered, and is likely to include miscarriages before the 24th week of pregnancy.  Leave will be unpaid.

2027

Increased dismissal protection for pregnant workers
There will be increased protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and new mothers, as part of the Employment Rights Act. Specifically, it will be unlawful to dismiss a pregnant woman or new mother during or for six months after their return from maternity leave, except in specific circumstances. Protection will also apply to other forms of family friendly leave such as adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partners paternity leave. 

2027

Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans
Large employers (defined as those with 250+ employees) will be required to create action plans on supporting employees through the menopause and reducing their gender pay gap. It’s worth noting that an action plan is different to a policy.

These will be introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026 before coming into force in 2027

2027

Change to NDA’s
There will be a change to the law around NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to void clauses that would prevent workers from alleging or disclosing work-related harassment or discrimination except in an ‘excepted agreement’. What this excepted agreement is we do not know yet.

This has also not been included on the government’s road map so will be unsure when this will come into effect. 

2027

Sexual Harassment Regulations
The law will specify what ‘reasonable steps’ means when preventing sexual harassment, following earlier changes in October 2026. 

 

The following are not included in the Employment Rights Bill but may progress in separate legislation or by non-legislative means:

  • the right to disconnect
  • supporting workers with a terminal illness through the Dying to Work Charter
  • modernising health and safety guidance
  • enacting the socioeconomic duty
  • ensuring the Public Sector Equality Duty provisions cover all parties exercising public functions
  • developing menopause guidance for employers and guidance on health and wellbeing
  • extending pay gap reporting to ethnicity and disability for employers with more than 250 staff
  • extending equal pay rights to protect workers suffering discrimination on the basis of race or disability
  • ensuring that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay
  • implementing a regulatory and enforcement unit for equal pay with involvement from trade unions

Please note this information is correct as of 12 February 2026.