The Government has published a Roadmap providing a timetable of likely implementation dates for measures in the Employment Rights Bill (ERB). It also outlines a phased timeline for periods of consultation planned to take place both this year and during 2026, prior to such measures coming into force. The headline change is that the Government's much publicised commitment to employees' protection from unfair dismissal becoming a "Day One" right during 2026, has been put back to sometime in 2027.
Measures taking effect immediately or shortly after the ERB becomes law
Existing legislation on minimum service levels on strikes and the majority of the Trade Union Act 2016, will be repealed. At the same time, measures to enhance the protection against dismissal for taking industrial action and simplifying some ballot rules will come into force.
April 2026
Measures introduced during this month will include doubling the maximum period of the collective redundancy protective award, "day one" eligibility to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, establishment of the Fair Work Agency, removal of the lower earnings limit and waiting period for statutory sick pay, simplifications to the trade union recognition process, the introduction of electronic and workplace balloting, and enhancement of whistleblowing protections.
October 2026
Measures which will be introduced will include an end to unfair 'fire and rehire' practices; the fairer allocation of tips; a requirement for employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment; and to create additional obligations on employers to prevent third-party harassment. At the same time further trade union measures will be implemented to enhance protections for trade union representatives and protect workers against detriments for taking industrial action. Changes will also be made to time limits for making employment tribunal claims.
2027
Some measures included in the ERB will not take into effect until sometime in 2027. These include making protection from unfair dismissal a ‘day one’ right for employees, enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers, zero hours contracts measures for zero hours and low hours contract workers and agency workers. There will be a requirement for employers to produce equality action plans, including steps to address their gender pay gap, a new collective redundancy consultation threshold, a day one right to bereavement leave and regulation of umbrella companies. The power for regulations about types of reasonable steps to determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and improving access to flexible working will also be introduced.
Phasing consultation
The Government has committed to consulting with interested parties on various aspects of the ERB, over a phased period.
Summer/Autumn 2025
The Government will consult on giving employees protection from unfair dismissal from "Day One" including on the dismissal process in the statutory probation period.
Autumn 2025
During the autumn the Government will consult on include a package of trade union measures, dismissal and re-engagement ("fire and rehire"), regulation of umbrella companies, bereavement leave, rights for pregnant workers, various trade union activities and ending exploitative use of zero hours contracts.
Winter/early 2026
Further consultation will take place on measures including protection against detriments for taking industrial action and blacklisting, tightening tipping law, collective redundancy and flexible working.
Following these periods of consultation the Government states that it will develop final policy to deliver its measures and provide support to bodies responsible for upholding the new measures such as Acas, the employment tribunal system and the new Fair Work Agency.
Further amendments published by Government during July 2025
Prior to the ERB being considered by the House of Lords during this month, the Government published proposed amendments to various measures in the ERB including:
- provision being made for exceptions to the duty to offer guaranteed hours to both zero hours and agency workers
- a right to leave for employees who experience pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks with further details of the entitlement to, and length of, leave to be consulted on. Currently employees are entitled to statutory parental bereavement leave of up to two weeks if they experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy or their child dies before their eighteenth birthday
- changes to the use of non-disclosure agreements so that any clause in an agreement between an employer and a worker which prevents the individual from making an allegation of harassment or discrimination, or the way in which an employer has responded to the harassment or discrimination, will be void. There appears, however, to be a potential carve-out for provisions in “excepted agreements” (for example likely to include settlement agreements)
- revisions to and slightly stepping back from its original proposals on dismissal and re-engagement. The ERB as originally drafted made it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing any variation to their contract of employment, or to enable an employer to re-engage them (or another employee) under a varied contract for substantially the same role. It is now suggesting a degree of flexibility so that the ban on fire and rehire will be limited to "restricted variations" (such as reduced pay, variation to hours, or change to holiday or pension entitlement) and the employee did not agree to the restricted variation. A change to other contractual terms such as work location will no longer be covered, although such dismissals may still be unfair applying normal principles.
In whatever form the ERB finally takes, the timing of its measures coming into force means that organisations have time to prepare. Consideration will need to be given to amending policies and handbooks and also how they will manage processes such as amending terms and conditions, carrying out collective redundancies, hiring of zero hours workers and working with trade unions. We will continue to monitor and provide further updates, as the ERB continues to take shape.
