Employment Rights Bill update: government sets out their timeline for the changes

The government has now shared its roadmap for rolling out the Employment Rights Bill – their set of reforms expected to reshape how UK businesses like yours manage your people. Although the Bill is still working its way through Parliament and isn’t set to become law until autumn 2025 (and so we don’t have a final version with all changes yet), key dates for implementation have now been confirmed – here’s what you need to know.

Consultation roadmap – and what a consultation actually involves 

Before many of these changes take effect, the government will run consultations to fine-tune exactly how they should work in practice. A consultation is when the government asks employers, workers, trade unions and other stakeholders for their views on specific proposals. These insights help shape the more detailed regulations and guidance around the changes, so they’re actually effective when they come into force.

Summer/autumn 2025 will see consultations on… 

• Day-one unfair dismissal rights – how the new rules on protection from unfair dismissal from day one of employment should work in practice, including what a fair dismissal process might look like during a statutory probation period.

• School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) – reinstating this body to regulate pay, terms and conditions for school support staff.

• Fair Pay Agreement for Adult Social Care – creating sector-specific pay standards for adult social care workers.

In autumn 2025, consultations expand to… 

• Zero hours contracts – measures to give workers greater predictability and security of hours.

• Trade union measures – including electronic balloting, simplified recognition processes, duty to inform workers of their union rights and union reps’ protections.

• Fire and rehire practices – measures which will severely restrict the practice of enforcing changes to terms and conditions through dismissal and re-engagement.

• Regulation of umbrella companies – making umbrella companies responsible for various new obligations by bringing them within the scope of the Employment Agencies Act 1973.

• Bereavement leave – defining rights to leave following a bereavement.

• Rights for pregnant workers and new mothers – clarifying and extending protections.

In winter 2025/early 2026, further consultations will take place on… 

• Further trade union measures – including protections from detriment for taking industrial action and banning blacklisting.

• Tightening tipping laws – introducing measures on consultation and review of tipping policies.

• Collective redundancy – revising processes for consulting employees when making large-scale redundancies.

• Flexible working – exploring rules to make flexible working more accessible by introducing requirements that decisions on applications need to be reasonable.

So what’s changing and when?

When the Bill becomes law (expected autumn 2025):

• Repeal of Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 – rolling back restrictions on minimum service requirements during strikes.

• Repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016 – removing hurdles introduced over the last decade, making it easier for unions to organise.

• Scrapping the 10-year ballot renewal for union political funds – ending the need for unions to run costly ballots every decade to keep political funds active.

• Simplified industrial action notices – reducing red tape for unions when planning industrial action.

• Protections against dismissal for industrial action – stronger safeguards for workers who strike.

April 2026:

• Statutory Sick Pay reforms – removing waiting days and the requirement to earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit.

• Fair Work Agency established – a new enforcement body with powers to inspect workplaces and support employees.

• Collective redundancy protective award increased – doubling the maximum protective award period for breaches of collective consultation rules.

• Day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave rights – removing service requirements so employees can access these rights immediately.

• Whistleblowing protections strengthened – complaints of sexual harassment at work to be treated as whistleblowing protected disclosures.

• Simplified trade union recognition processes – making it easier for unions to be recognised by employers.

• Electronic and workplace balloting – modernising how union votes are carried out.

• Voluntary gender pay gap and menopause action plans – encouraging employers to address pay gaps and menopause support ahead of mandatory measures.

October 2026: 

• Employers’ duty to prevent sexual harassment – requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to stop sexual harassment of their workers.

• Obligation to prevent third-party harassment – extending employers’ liability to harassment by clients, customers or other third parties.

• Fire and rehire reforms come into force – introducing strict restrictions and penalties for misuse.

• Tribunal claim time limits extended to six months – giving employees more time to bring claims.

• Fair Pay Agreement for Adult Social Care Negotiating Body regulations.

• Duty to inform workers of union rights – obliging employers to notify employees about their rights to join a union.

• Strengthened trade union rights of access to workplace – introducing a new right to apply for ‘access agreements’ for various purposes.

• Strengthened union reps’ protections – providing greater security for union representatives.

• Protections against detriment for taking industrial action, extending existing protections for workers.

2027:

• Day-one unfair dismissal rights – employees will have protection from unfair dismissal from the beginning of their employment and establishing a new statutory probationary period.

• Zero hours contract reforms – introducing rights to a guaranteed hours contract and rights to reasonable notice of shifts and of the cancellation, moving or shortening of shifts (backed up by a right to compensation when this is breached).

• Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans (for larger employers) – from voluntary in April 2026 to compulsory in 2027.

• Increased protections for pregnant employees and new mothers.

• Definition of “reasonable steps” on harassment clarified – providing detailed guidance on what employers need to do.

• Industrial relations framework overhaul – modernising laws on collective bargaining and strikes.

• Regulation of umbrella companies – introducing several new obligations for umbrella companies.

• Collective redundancy consultation threshold changes – revising rules on when businesses need to consult collectively.

• Flexible working reforms implemented requiring decisions to be reached on a reasonable basis.

• New bereavement leave rights introduced.

 

If you need a reminder on any of these changes in more detail, you can refer back to our Employment Rights Bill guide which will take you through the changes.

We’re here to keep you informed every step of the way, with webinars, more legal updates and guides to come as Bill becomes finalised and passes into law, the consultations start and the details of the changes become clearer.