Employment Rights Bill

The timeline set out in the Government’s roadmap for implantation of the Employment Rights Bill is set out below. This timeline (and the details of those reforms on which there is still to be consultation) is subject to change.

Use these links to navigate down the timeline:

• Autumn 2025
• April 2026
• October 2026
• Sometime in 2027

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Autumn 2025

Measures that will take effect when the Act receives Royal Assent or soon afterwards (which is expected to be in Autumn 2025) include: 

Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023

The previous Government introduced legislation enabling them to set minimum service levels in certain sectors, with the aim of preventing disruptive strikes in those areas (health, transport, education, fire and rescue, border control, nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management). The reform under the ERB will mean that minimum service levels will not be able to be set in those industries.

Repeal of the great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016

This will result in the following: 

• New members joining a trade union will automatically be opted in to contribute to a political fund, unless they expressly opt out
• Trade unions will no longer have to pay for the administration of check-off in the public sector
• The requirement for public sector employers to publish information on the amount of facility time taken by union officials will be removed. The power to impose a cap on facility time in the public sector will also be removed
• Trade unions will no longer have to adhere to certain reporting requirements relating to industrial action. This includes providing additional information on the voting paper, to members and employers, and to the Certification Officer in their annual return
• For a lawful strike or other industrial action, trade unions will need a simple majority of members who respond to an industrial action ballot to vote in favour of industrial action
• Trade unions will no longer be required to secure 40% support in strike ballots for six important public services (fire, health, education, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning sectors). Additional requirements on unions to supervise picketing, including the appointment of a supervisor, will be removed
• The Certification Officer will no longer have various investigatory powers to undertake investigations into a trade union following a complaint by a third party or on the Certification Officer’s own initiative, nor the power to require the production of documents and appoint inspectors to investigate
• The Certification Officer will also no longer be able to impose financial penalties or make a declaration against a trade union in regard to the annual return requirements added by the Trade Union Act 2016. They will however continue to have the power to investigate financial affairs, which was brought in prior to the Trade Union Act 2016
• The power requiring trade unions and employers’ associations to pay a levy to the Certification Officer will be removed
• The minimum period of notice of industrial action will be reduced from 14 to 10 days
• Industrial action ballots will have an effective mandate for 12 months (increased from the current six months)

Removing the 10 year ballot requirement for trade union political funds 

There will no longer be a requirement for a trade union to hold a ballot every ten years to maintain a political fund.

Simplifying industrial action notices and industrial action ballot notices

• Removal of requirement to disclose the number of employees in each category expected to take part in industrial action
• Simplification of previous requirements to include a summary of the matters in issue and the removal of the requirement to specify the types of industrial action short of strike being contemplated

Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action

• Protection will extend for full duration of official, lawful strike and after that strike has concluded
• Employees will be automatically unfairly dismissed if the reason, or principal reason, is taking part in protected industrial action
• Ballot voting papers must include a statement that a strike or industrial action may be a breach of contract, but that there is such protection against dismissal

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April 2026 

Collective redundancy protective award 

• The protective award for a failure to comply with collective consultation obligations will be doubled from 90 to 180 days’ pay per affected employee

'Day 1' Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave

As with current maternity leave rights, there will be no qualifying period for an employee to serve before becoming entitled to paternity or parental leave

Whistleblowing protections

• Reports of sexual harassment in the workplace will automatically be a protected disclosure

Fair Work Agency body established

Different elements of employment law are currently enforced by different bodies (for example, HMRC enforce National Minimum Wage, whereas HSE enforce the Working Time Regulations). This will change.

• The Fair Work Agency will be a single body tasked with enforcement of employment rights, namely:
  • Employment Agency Regulations
  • Payment of SSP
  • National Minimum Wage
  • Holiday pay 
  • Modern Slavery Act
  • Employment Tribunal awards
• The Fair Work Agency will have powers to
  • bring Employment Tribunal claims on behalf of workers and employees
  • issues notices of underpayment where statutory amounts (eg SSP, NMW) have not been paid by an employer. These will require the payment to be made within 28 days together with a penalty of up to 200% of the sum due (up to a maximum of £20,000 per employee). These can relate to any sums due in the previous six years
  • provide legal advice and representation to those bringing claims
  • recover the costs of enforcement

Statutory Sick Pay

• The current concept of three waiting days will be removed, so entitlement to SSP will be from day one of absence
• SSP currently only applies to those earning above the Lower Earnings Limit. This requirement will be removed, so all workers, including low earners, will be entitled to SSP at the lower of
  • The rate of SSP
  • 80% of weekly earnings

Simplifying trade union recognition process

The Bill amends the existing statutory recognition process by: 

• Deleting the current requirement for unions to have the support of at least 40% of the workforce in the proposed bargaining unit in a trade union recognition ballot. Under the Bill, unions would only need a simple majority of those voting to win
• Deleting the requirement for a union to demonstrate on application to the CAC for statutory recognition that they are likely to win a recognition ballot. In future, unions would only need to show the CAC that they have 10% membership of the proposed bargaining unit for their application for recognition to be accepted by the CAC
• Providing a power to enable Ministers to issue affirmative secondary regulations to vary the 10% membership requirement on application in future, within parameters of 2% to 10% set out in the Bill

There are also reforms in relation to access and unfair practices during the union recognition process:

• Extending the legislation and Code of Practice on access and unfair practices during recognition and derecognition ballots to apply from the point where the CAC accepts a trade union application
• Setting a clear timetable for negotiations on access: 20 working days from the point the CAC accepts a trade union application. If no agreement is reached, the CAC will have 10 working days to determine a reasonable access agreement
• Allowing 5 working days after the close of the recognition ballot for complaints to be submitted to the CAC where an unfair practice is alleged
• Making it easier to win such complaints by only requiring the CAC to consider whether an unfair practice has occurred without considering the effect it may have (i.e the union does not have to prove that the unfair practice actually operated to their detriment)
• Dealing with mass recruitment into a bargaining unit for the purposes of diluting union membership by ensuring that following the submission of a recognition application to the CAC new recruits are not considered by the CAC for the purposes of the recognition process or entitled to vote in a recognition ballot
• Preventing recognition of a non-independent union, in response to a request for voluntary recognition from an independent union, from blocking the independent union’s subsequent recognition application

Electronic and workplace balloting

The Government has said that it is committed to delivering electronic balloting on trade union issues (replacing the current postal ballot requirement) and will be consulting on the detail before implementation.

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October 2026

Fire and rehire reforms

The Government had announced that it would strengthen protections against the abuse of terminating and re-engaging employment contracts in order to implement changes to terms and conditions.  The original Bill does so by:

• Deeming an employee to be automatically unfairly dismissed if the reason for dismissal is
  • because the employee refused to agree to a variation to their contract of employment; or
  • to enable the employer to employ another person to carry out the same or substantially the same duties under a varied contract of employment

unless

• • The reason for the variation was to eliminate, prevent or significantly reduce financial difficulties which were likely in the immediate future to endanger the operation of the business as a going concern; or 
  • In all the circumstances, the employer could not reasonably have avoided the need for the variation

Since the original publication of the Bill, and in response to representations by employers, the Government has proposed amendments to these provisions as follows:

• Automatic unfair dismissal will only apply to proposed variations which are “restricted variations”, namely those that relate to pay, pension, hours or holiday (so other minor changes will not trigger automatic unfair dismissal).
• Where an employee is dismissed
  • Because they do not agree to an unrestricted variation (e.g. a variation that does not relate to pay, pension, hours or holiday)
  • Or to enable the employer to employ another person to carry out, the same, or substantially the same duties with a contract variation that does not relate to pay, pension, hours or holiday

The dismissal will not be automatically unfair, but the Tribunal would have to consider whether it is unfair in the ordinary sense, taking into account:

• • Any consultation carried out with the employee and/or trade union
  • Anything offered to the employee in return for the variation
  • Any other matters specified in the regulations
• The original wording referred to seeking to replace with employees on varied terms. It is proposed that this is changed to clarify that it also relates to employers seeking to replace individuals with non-employees doing substantially the same duties on different terms
• In recognition that the concept of “the operation of the business as a going concern” s not relevant to public sector employers, it is proposed to reflect this in amended wording that clarifies that in the public sector, there will be a defence to automatic unfair dismissal where the circumstances are that financial difficulties relate to the financial sustainability of carrying out the employer’s statutory functions or if the authority is subject to a “relevant intervention direction”

Bringing forward regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body 

There have been historically low unionisation rates in the adult social care sector, and the Government is concerned that it is a typically low paid sector, suffering from recruitment and retention difficulties. These reforms are intended to create a negotiating body to produce Fair Pay Agreements, to be implemented by employers and improve terms and conditions in the sector.

Introduction of the two-tier code for procurement

The previous Code of Practice in this area was revoked by the coalition Government in 2011 and the Employment Rights Bill would reinstate its principles, ensuring that where public services are outsourced, new workers to the employer are not treated less favourably than incoming public sector workers thus avoiding a two tier workforce.

Tightening tipping law 

Provisions were introduced recently for the first time in this area by the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.  The Employment Rights Bill adds to those provisions by requiring (rather than recommending as is currently the case) employers to:

• consult about their tips policy
• review their tips policy at least once every three years

Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union

At the same time as issuing a Section 1 statement of terms and conditions at the outset of employment, employers will have to give workers a written statement advising that they have the right to join a trade union. The precise nature of the statement will be prescribed by Regulations.

Strengthening trade unions' right of access

This will enable unions to enter into access agreements with employers by presenting an access request to which an employer may agree or may issue a response notice, triggering a negotiation period. If there is no agreement, then the issue can be referred to the CAC. Access will mean both physical entry and general communication with workers. The purposes of access could be:

• to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers
• to facilitate collective bargaining

Requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees

A duty was imposed on all employers in October 2024 to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the workplace. This duty will be extended to taking all reasonable steps.

Employers failing to comply with their duty could be subject to an uplift on any Tribunal award for sexual harassment of up to 25%.

The reforms provide for Regulations (likely in 2027) to specify what sort of steps will be “all reasonable steps”. This will cover issues such as:

• risk assessments
• plans and policies
• reporting mechanisms
• complaint mechanisms

Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties

A previous iteration of liability for third party harassment in the workplace existed in the Equality Act 2010 but was not in force. The new law will make an employer liable where an employee is subject to harassment in the course of their employment on grounds of the relevant protected characteristics if the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.

This could have a particular impact on employers with a large proportion of customer-facing employees

New rights and protections for trade union reps

There will be new rights to facilities for trade union representatives, and a right to complain if there is a failure to provide facilities such as accommodation for meetings, confidential spaces and access to communication methods. 

The rights to time off and facilities currently provided to trade union officials will be extended to trade union equality representatives.

Employment tribunal time limits extended from three to six months

The majority of employment tribunal complaints must currently be brought (raised with ACAS through the EC process) within three months of the act complained of.  This time limit will be extended to six months

Extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action

There will be protection against being subject to any detriment, where it has the sole or main purpose of preventing or deterring a worker from taking protected industrial action or penalising the worker for doing so. Compensation will be whatever is “just and equitable”, taking into account any expenses incurred by the claimant and losses of any benefit

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Sometime in 2027 

Gender pay gap and menopause action plans

Employers with more than 250 employees already have to publish their Gender Pay Gap, but have no legal obligation to do anything about it.  The reforms will require these employers also to publish Equality Action Plans to include what they are doing to address any gender pay gap and to support those going through menopause

Regulations will likely include provisions about

• the content of action plans
• their form and manner
• when and how frequently they are to be published
• requirements for senior approval of plans

Further rights for pregnant workers 

Employees who are pregnant or on, or recently returned from maternity leave currently have some limited protection from redundancy (in the form of a right to a suitable available vacancy).  The reforms in the Bill will extend protection against dismissal to dismissal for any reason. Consultation will be undertaken as to the precise form of the protections.

Blacklisting reforms

Whilst trade union members have some protections against blacklisting, the Government consider these to be outdated and reforms will:

• extend to lists that were not prepared for discriminatory purposes but are used to that effect
• provide protection against forms of digital blacklisting by the use of predictive technology
• extend liability to those other than employers and agencies (eg third parties compiling lists)

Regulation of umbrella companies 

• These are currently not regulated in the same way as employment agencies and employment businesses and that will change
• PAYE liability will move from the umbrella company to the employment agency (or to the end-user if there is no employment agency involved)

Collective redundancy

The current obligation to collectively consult is triggered where there are 20 or more redundancies proposed at one establishment within a period of 90 days. There was a proposal to remove the “establishment” threshold, but this has now been discounted.  Instead, there will now be two types of threshold:

• the threshold of redundancies at one establishment (to stay at 20 for a 30-day consultation and 100 for a 45-day consultation)
• a threshold of redundancies across an employer’s establishments, with this number not yet being announced

Flexible working reforms
Flexible working will be “the default”. This appears in the Bill as the following reforms to the current Flexible Working system:

• Requests can only be refused for reasons falling within the relevant statutory grounds and if it is reasonable to do so
• The employer must give their reasons for refusal and explain why they consider it reasonable to refuse the application

Bereavement leave
The law currently provides up to two weeks of bereavement leave and pay for parents on the death of a child.  The Bill introduces up to one week’s bereavement leave for all, with regulations to be introduced to clarify the circumstances in which individuals can take bereavement leave (e.g. the relationship to the deceased). 

The Government also added to the Bill in July 2025, one week’s unpaid leave in the event of:

• The ending of any pregnancy after less than 24 weeks (other than a live birth), or
• The failure of an embryo to become implanted following a transfer (an unsuccessful IVF transfer)

Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts 

The Government will not ban zero hours contracts, but propose significant reforms as follows:

• “Qualifying workers” will have a right to be offered a guaranteed hours contract reflecting the hours they regularly work over a 12-week reference period
• This right will apply to “low hours” workers as well as “zero hours” workers (in order to avoid employers circumventing the rules by engaging people on contracts that offer guaranteed hours, but low hours). The concept of “low hours” is not yet defined and will be the subject of consultation. The Bill also clarifies that employers will not be able to circumvent the rules by offering guaranteed hours contracts for limited-terms (save where it is reasonable to do so)
• The Government have said that they will ensure that workers who are on full-time contracts and occasionally pick up overtime will not be affected by these reforms
• The Government have confirmed that the same protections will apply to agency workers
• In addition to the right to guaranteed hours, zero hours and other variable hours workers will have rights to:
  • reasonable notice of a shift
  • reasonable notice of a cancellation or change to a shift
  • payment for a shift that is cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice

What is “reasonable notice” has not yet been confirmed.

Day One protection from unfair dismissal

• There will be a removal of the qualifying period (currently two years) for claiming unfair dismissal
• In response to initial feedback on their proposals for “day one” unfair dismissal rights, the Bill provides that regulations may be made in relation to an “initial period of employment”, i.e. a probationary period. The Government have expressed a preference for a 9-month probationary period. Dismissals (other than for redundancy) will be possible if the employer follows a modified dismissal procedure, the details of which are not yet known but which has been described as a “light-touch” procedure
• Pre-Day One unfair dismissal rights : where an individual is dismissed on one of the automatically unfair grounds (e.g. whistleblowing), they may claim unfair dismissal even where such termination is before they have started work

NDAs

In July 2025, the Government announced that they would add to the Employment Rights Bill a provision “banning” NDAs, although it doesn’t quite amount to an outright ban. The reforms will make void any provision in an agreement insofar as it seeks to prevent the worker from making an allegation of, or disclosure of information relating to, harassment or discrimination or the employer’s response to harassment or discrimination. There is reference in the proposal to “excepted agreements”, but no indication of what these will be. The impression given by the Government’s announcement is that the traditional settlement agreement entered into with a departing employee will not be able to prevent a worker speaking about allegations of harassment or discrimination.

It remains to be seen whether there will be any watering down of these provisions or a wide category of “excepted agreements”, but if not, then these reforms could have a significant impact on the way in which employers approach discrimination complaints and reaching settlements with employees.