Employment Rights Act 2025

Change:

All employees will gain day-one entitlement to both statutory paternity leave and unpaid parental leave for babies born, or due to be born, on or after 6 April 2026 or who are placed for adoption on or after 6 April 2026.

Employees can take paternity leave and be paid for paternity leave even if they have taken and been paid for shared parental leave.

Implementation date:

6 April 2026

What do you need to do?

• Policies and procedures will need to be updated to reflect the changes.
• Staff will need to be made aware of the new rights.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

From day one, bereaved fathers will be able to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother or adopter has died. Similarly, paternity leave can also be taken after shared parental leave if the child’s mother or adopter has died.

Implementation date:

6 April 2026

What do you need to do?

• Policies and procedures will need to be updated to reflect the changes.
• Staff will need to be made aware of the new rights.
• Payroll systems will need to be updated.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

The definition of a qualifying public interest disclosure (a.k.a. ‘whistleblowing’) will be widened to expressly cover disclosures that sexual harassment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur.

Implementation date:

6 April 2026

What do you need to do?

Whistleblowing and Sexual Safety/Harassment policies will need updating.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

SSP will be payable from the first day of absence and all employees will be entitled to the lower of the SSP weekly flat rate or 80% of average earnings. Currently, employees must earn a minimum of £118.75 and must be incapacitated for four days to be eligible for SSP.

Implementation date:

6 April 2026

What do you need to do?

• Sickness absence policies will need to be updated.
• Ensure you have robust sickness absence management processes in place.
• Re-train managers on managing sickness absence.
• Contracts of employment may need to be updated if eligibility for SSP is referred to.
• Internal procedures/payroll systems will need updating.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

The FWA will be a public agency that brings together the existing enforcement functions of:

• HMRC in relation to the national minimum wage
• The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (which deals with employment agencies and employment businesses) and; the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

Implementation date:

This will be set up on 7 April 2026 but no date has yet been provided for when the FWA’s enforcement powers will be brought into effect.

What do you need to do?

• Review how you keep records and ensure that they are fit for purpose.
• You could consider having internal audits to ensure compliance with record keeping.

Change:

This technically does not come into force until 1 January 20207 (see below) but you will need to be taking preparatory steps because those people who have 6 months’ service by 1 January 2027 will have unfair dismissal protection. We expect the number of claims to increase.

Implementation date:

Ongoing.

What do you need to do?

• Your recruitment process are going to be key. Review how effective they are. Make them robust. Train recruiting managers.
• Tighten management of probationary periods with clear performance review systems and documentation.
• Train management on how to effectively manage probationary periods.
• Produce guidance and documented procedures on managing probationary periods.
• Review disciplinary/performance management policies to reflect reduced qualifying period.
• Strengthen documentation around dismiss decisions.
• Update and provide training on investigations and disciplinaries.
• Review your workforce and if you have staff who are not working out and who will have 6 months’ service by 1 January 2027, you’ll need to consider whether they are part of the future of the organisation.
• Update your contracts and policies to reflect the change.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Since October 2024, all employers have been required to take proactive ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees from third parties. This will be extended to require employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent third-party harassment due to a protected characteristic.

There will be a requirement to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment generally.

Implementation date:

October 2026

Regulations are expected in 2027 will clarify what constitutes to ‘reasonable steps’.

What do you need to do?

• Changes will be required to sexual safety, sexual harassment, anti-harassment and dignity at work policies and reporting procedures.
• Risk assessments and action plans will need to be reviewed and updated.
• A proactive approach needs to be taken by employers to tackle sexual harassment.
• Have clear messaging that harassment will not be tolerated.
• Ensure that you have clear reporting procedures and complaints are taken seriously.
• Ensure that all staff at all levels receive training on a regular basis – diarise when training needs to be renewed and keep records of who undertakes the training.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

This technically does not come into force until 1 January 2027 (see below) but you need to take preparatory steps because those people who have 6 months’ service by 1 January 2027 will have unfair dismissal protection.  We expect the number of claims to increase.

Currently there is a cap on how much compensation someone can claim in an unfair dismissal claim. From 1 January 2027 this will be removed. Compensation will be unlimited bringing with it increased exposure to financial risk, particularly from high earners.

Implementation date:

1 January 2027

What do you need to do?

• Your recruitment processes are going to be key. Review how effective they are. Make them robust. Train recruiting managers.
• Tighten management of probationary periods with clear performance review systems and documentation.
• Train management on how to effectively manage probationary periods.
• Produce guidance and documented procedures on managing probationary periods.
• Review disciplinary/performance management policies to reflect reduced qualifying period.
• Strengthen documentation around dismissal decisions.
• Update and provide training on investigations and disciplinaries.
• Review your workforce and if you have staff who are not working out and who will have 6 months’ service by 1 January 2027, you’ll need to consider whether they are part of the future of the organisation.
• Update your contracts and policies to reflect the change.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Except in cases of financial difficulty, it will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to accept changes to specific contractual terms, such as pay, working hours, holidays and pension.  Changes to other terms will not be automatically unfair but may amount to an ordinary unfair dismissal as the legislation will also introduce additional factors to be considered when determining whether the dismissal was fair or not.

It will also be automatically unfair to dismiss or to re-engage the employee or replace them with an agency worker or contractor on varied terms to carry out substantially the same role.

Implementation date:

Now expected 2027

What do you need to do?

• Review your variation/flexibility/mobility clauses in your contract.
• Review job descriptions to ensure they provide you with as much flexibility as possible.
• As you may need to consult on these changes we recommend you start considering this now.

Change:

Employees will be able to give notice and evidence related to parental leave and paternity leave where the baby is due to be born on or after 6 April 2026 (see below).

Implementation date:

18 February 2026

What do you need to do? 

Paternity leave and parental leave policies will need to be updated and staff informed of their rights.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

In 2027 employers with 250+ employees will be required to publish gender equality action plans to demonstrate how employers are taking action to address gender pay gaps and support employees affected by menopause.

These plans are built on existing gender pay gap reports.

Further guidance is expected.

This obligation will be voluntary until 2027.

Implementation date:

2026

What do you need to do?

• Review current policies and procedures.
• Review how you collect data.
• Review your existing gender pay reporting processes and consider how they might be adapted.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

The maximum protected award (i.e. the sum paid to employees by employers who fail to inform and consult about collective redundancies) will increase from 90 to 180 days’ pay per effected employee.

Implementation date:

6 April 2026

What do you need to do?

No changes needed.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

For most types of claims the employee or worker has 3 months to bring a claim but this will be extended to 6 months, giving employees and workers more time to bring claims.

Implementation date:

No earlier than October 2026

What do you need to do?

No specific change required but with an extended length of time available for bringing a claim, it highlights the importance of training, following procedures,  good decision making and keeping records of decisions made for longer.

Change:

Any provision in an agreement which seeks to preclude the worker from making an allegation or disclosure of harassment or discrimination (including the employer’s response to such an allegation) will be void. The restriction will not apply to ‘excepted agreements’, but no information has been provided as to what this would cover and this will be the subject of further consultation.

Implementation date:

Not yet known. Further consultation is required.

What do you need to do?

• Settlement agreements will need to be reviewed.
• Contracts should be reviewed to consider whether there are any breaches within confidentiality provisions.
• Check NDAs.
• Not sufficient information at this stage.

Change:

The day-one right to two weeks’ parental bereavement leave following the death of a child or a stillbirth after 24 weeks will be widened to a general right for bereavement leave, which is to include pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. If the employee has lost a child, they will be entitled to two weeks’ parental bereavement pay but otherwise it will be unpaid.

Implementation date:

Expected April 2027

Further regulations are required to detail how the leave is taken and what relationship the employee is required to have to the deceased person.

What do you need to do?

• Your policies will need to be changed.
• Contractual benefits may need to be changed.
• You may need to review the interaction with your Sick Pay Policy.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Currently, collective redundancy applies where 20 or more people are at risk of being made redundant in a 90-day period in one establishment.

A new ‘threshold test’ has been added meaning that the trigger will be:

• 20 or more redundancies at one establishment or
• A new higher threshold trigger (to be defined in regulations) is met, possibly based on a percentage or a higher number of employees across the whole business.

Implementation date:

Likely 2027. Consultation is expected to take place in early 2026.

What do you need to do?

• If the company has a redundancy policy then this will need to be amended.
• There will be a requirement to notify representatives of the number of redundancies at different sites.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

The amended legislation allows for the current protection against redundancy during and after a pregnancy to be extended to other reasons for dismissal.

The legislation also enables the Secretary of State to extend the protection to people who have taken other types of statutory leave, such as maternity/adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partners’ paternity leave.

Implementation date:

Consultation ends in January 2026. It is not yet clear when any legislation will result

What do you need to do?

• Policies will need to be changed.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Workers on zero-hours contracts as well as agency workers who work regular hours over a defined period, will gain new rights to be offered guaranteed hours. Employers will also be required to give reasonable notice of shifts and shift changes. Compensation will be payable to the worker where changes are made at short notice.

Implementation date:

Likely 2027. Consultation is expected in 2026.

What do you need to do?

• Review all zero hour contracts.
• Processes around zero hour contracts should be reviewed
• Policies will need to be introduced.
• Employers will be required to provide information to workers in relation to their rights within 2 weeks.
• Introduce reasonable notice periods for shifts.
• Implement cancellation compensation rules into payroll processes.
• Update rostering systems and manager guidance.

It is very likely that the provisions are going to require employers to have clear processes in place.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Employers will need to give clearer consideration to flexible working requests. In addition to relying on one of the permitted statutory grounds for refusal, any refusal must be reasonable and the grounds for refusal must be explained to the employee clearly and in writing.

Implementation date:

Likely 2027. Consultation is expected in early 2026.

What do you need to do?

• Your Flexible Working policy will need to be amended as well as any templates.
• Training will need to be provided.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.

Change:

Employers with 250+ employees will be required to publish equality action plans regarding gender equality, how the gender pay gap is being addressed and how employees going through the menopause are supported.

Implementation date:

2027

What do you need to do?

• Consider the policies that you already have in place and any improvements that can be made.
• Ensure that you have appropriate record keeping functionality particularly around monitoring pay and complaints.

Change:

Employers will be required to keep adequate records to show that they have complied with annual leave and holiday pay entitlements.

Implementation date:

No date has been provided.

What do you need to do?

• Retention policies reviewed to consider what is being kept and ensure it is for 6 years.

HR Protect clients can access these policies here.