What changes, and when? – a clear implementation timeline for employers
The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) has now received Royal Assent and is formally the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Despite the scale of the Act, almost all reforms require further regulations or Codes of Practice before they take effect. The Government has published an implementation roadmap setting out the intended timings, although some dates remain subject to consultation and may move.
This article focuses mostly on clarity of timing, enabling employers to understand what applies now, what applies next, and what remains some way off. However, employers should be aware that the Statutory Sick Pay reforms due in April 2026 are likely to have the most immediate and practical impact, particularly for our clients.
Please note: This article highlights the key changes and essential points arising from the Employment Rights Act 2025. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of every reform, as doing so would require considerably more detail.
For more information/detail on the Government’s planned implementation and indicative timings, employers may wish to refer to the official implementation roadmap, available at: ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/686507a33b77477f9da0726e/implementing-the-employment-rights-bill-roadmap.pdf’
We will continue to provide clear, practical guidance for clients as further detail emerges and commencement dates approach.
What changes immediately (on or shortly after Royal Assent)
For most employers, very little changes immediately…
The only provisions taking effect now (or very shortly) relate to industrial action and trade union legislation, including:
- Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Repeal of most provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016
Some related protections (such as protection from dismissal linked to industrial action) are referenced as coming into force around Royal Assent, but these still require regulations and should not be assumed to be fully operational without confirmation.
Key point:
There are no immediate changes to dismissal rights, redundancy rules, SSP, flexible working, harassment duties, or family leave.
April 2026 – first significant wave of changes
From April 2026, employers should expect the first set of meaningful operational changes.
Sickness absence and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
Current position
Statutory Sick Pay is currently:
- Payable from day 4 of sickness (after three waiting days); and
- Only available to employees earning above the Lower Earnings Limit (currently £123 per week).
What the Employment Rights Act 2025 provides
The Act introduces significant reform to SSP entitlement:
- SSP will be payable from day 1 of sickness, including the first three qualifying days;
- The Lower Earnings Limit will be removed, extending SSP eligibility to all eligible employees regardless of earnings; and
- Employees earning below the current Lower Earnings Limit will be entitled to SSP at 80% of their weekly earnings, subject to regulations.
We recognise that this change is likely to be a key concern for many employers, particularly in relation to short-term absence management and cost control.
What happens next
These changes are not yet in force and require further regulations. The Government’s roadmap indicates that SSP reforms are expected to take effect from April 2026.
Family-related rights
What changes
- A Day 1 right to unpaid parental leave, removing the one-year service requirement
- Removal of the service requirement for paternity leave
Note: While expected to take effect from April 2026, this is subject to commencement regulations.
Redundancy (collective consultation)
What changes
- An increase in the maximum protective award where employers fail to comply with collective consultation obligations, increasing potential financial exposure.
Whistleblowing
What changes
- Clarification and expansion of whistleblowing protections, intended to strengthen coverage and reduce ambiguity around protected disclosures.
Trade unions
What changes
- A simplified union recognition process
- Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting
Both expected to take effect from April 2026, subject to regulations.
Enforcement – Fair Work Agency
What changes
- Establishment of a new Fair Work Agency with powers to enforce key employment rights, including sick pay and holiday pay.
Note: Expected to be established from April 2026, with enforcement activity increasing over time.
October 2026 – major ‘employer risk’ changes
The October 2026 tranche is likely to be the most legally significant for many employers.
Fire and rehire
- New statutory restrictions introduced.
- Current Code-based approach replaced or strengthened by legislation.
- Employer flexibility in changing terms is expected to reduce significantly.
Harassment
- Employer duty strengthened from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps”
- Liability extended to third-party harassment, subject to a defence.
Tribunal claims
- It has been confirmed that most tribunal time limits extended from 3 months to 6 months.
Trade union rights
- Duty to inform workers of the right to join a union
- Expanded union access rights
- New protections against detriment
Key point:
October 2026 is when employers should expect material increases in litigation and compliance risk, particularly around exits, restructures and harassment management.
2027 – structural individual rights reforms
A number of major reforms are not expected until 2027, including:
- Changes to unfair dismissal qualifying periods
- Potential removal of the compensatory award cap
- Rights to predictable hours and shift notice
- Bereavement leave (including pregnancy loss)
- Extended pregnancy and family-leave dismissal protections
- Changes to flexible working refusal rules
- NDA restrictions relating to harassment and discrimination
Most of these remain subject to consultation, and final detail is not yet confirmed.
Key point:
2027 is when individual employment rights expand most significantly, but employers have time to prepare.
At-a-glance timeline summary
Now (Dec 2025)
- Trade union legislative repeals only
- No general HR policy changes required
April 2026
- SSP reform
- Day 1 paternity and parental leave
- Increased redundancy protective awards
- Fair Work Agency established
October 2026
- Fire and rehire restrictions
- Stronger harassment duties
- Tribunal time limits extended
- Expanded trade union rights
2027
- Earlier unfair dismissal rights
- Predictable hours reforms
- Further family-leave protections
- NDA and flexible working changes
Although the Act is wide-ranging, there is no single “big bang” change all at once... The reforms are deliberately phased, with further consultation and regulations still to come.
We appreciate that 2026 in particular will raise questions for many employers. As always, our clients can expect practical, proportionate support from our employment law and HR specialists as each phase of the reforms approaches.
HR and Employment Law can be extremely tricky to navigate through and when a small or medium business may not have an in house solicitor it can prove very difficult to abide by and keep up to date with the latest employment law legislation. Employment Law issues can soon snowball if they are not dealt with effectively and a lack of knowledge of employment law and the various pitfalls it can throw up could leave your business or organisation exposed if you don’t follow the correct processes and procedures. Add to that some ever changing legislation and a lack of the right skills, knowledge, and understanding of HR and Employment Law within your business, and it could easily land you in legal trouble and worse, hit your business hard financially. If you need more information about the upcoming changes or how we can help and protect your organisation please visit our website: https://wirehouse-es.com/, call us on 03333 215 005 or directly email us via: info@wirehouse-es.com.
