We all know about the Governments Employment Rights Bill, after much back and forth and amendments it finally achieved royal assent in December 2025. The act will make amendments to existing legislation as will as introducing additions, most of which will take place in 2026 and 2027. What can we expect over the next 12 months and beyond.
One change which happened as soon as the Bill became law was the removal of the minimum service levels required for strikes. February will see further changes regarding industrial action and dismissal due to taking part in in strike action will be automatically unfair.
Other amendments include:
· A reduction in the time required for notice for industrial action from 14 days to 10 days.
· A simple majority vote only will be needed for industrial action
· There is no longer a requirement for picket supervisors
· Industrial action mandates have been increased to a 12 month period
· Industrial Political action and ballot notices will be simplified
· Political fund rules will change.
April is generally when increases to statutory amounts happen in line with the new tax year.
· The 3 day waiting period for SSP will be removed and it will become a day 1 right
· In addition the lower earnings limit will be removed meaning there is no minimum amount for eligibility.
Paternity leave will also become a day 1 right, removing the need for 26 weeks of employment. Ordinary parental will also be a day 1 right, an employee currently needs 1 year of service and the restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave will be removed.
The maximum protective award for failure to consult when making redundancies will double from 90 to 180 days from April.
Current whistleblowing law will be updated to include sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure, meaning protection from detriment and unfair dismissal if a sexual harassment disclosure is made.
Action plans for gender pay gap and menopause will be voluntary from April 2026 and mandatory in 2027.
The fair work agency will be established in April 2026 and this will have a significant impact, more on this in a later update.
Further updates will happen in October including,
· Unfair fire and rehire dismissals will be banned, meaning that employers cannot force contractual changes by issuing new contracts. In effect this practice involves dismissing on old contracts and then rehiring on new terms and conditions
· Tribunal claim limits will be increased from 3 months to 6 months, meaning an employee will have longer to make a claim.
Further changes to trade union rules will include;
· Duty on employers to inform workers of the right to join a union
· Updated rules on the trade unions right to access workplace
· A new right to time off for trade union reps to carry out their duties as well reasonable accommodations for trade reps carrying out their duties.
Harassment protections will undergo further changes;
· Employers will need to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to protect employees from harassment from 3rd parties or be liable
· Employers must take ‘all reasonable steps’ instead of ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.
Changes which are currently expected in 2027 include;
· Unfair dismissal rights after 6 months rather than the current 2 years
· Stronger protections against dismissal for pregnant employees and those returning from maternity leave,
· Changes to zero hour contracts
· New statutory right to bereavement leave
· A legal requirement when declining a flexible working request to
State the reason for the refusal
Explain why the decline is reasonable
These changes in conjunction with the establishment of the fair work agency will have a considerable impact on employers and will ensure greater enforcement.
Make sure you get your contracts, policies and practices updates now in readiness for these changes. Further updates on how to implement these changes will follow so subscribe to my blog now.
