A new era in employment law: The Employment Rights Act 2025 timeline

• Royal Assent - The Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent.
• Trade unions - Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. 

• Industrial action in important “public services” – 40% support threshold in industrial action ballots in “important public services” to be removed.  
• Notice of ballot/ballot voting paper – Simplification of industrial action notice of ballot and reduction of information required on industrial action ballot voting paper.  
• Notice of industrial action – The notice period a trade union must give to an employer of planned industrial action will be reduced from 14 days to ten days.  
• Period of effectiveness of industrial action ballot – The mandate period for industrial action following a successful ballot will be increased from six to 12 months.  
• Picketing – Reduced requirements in relation to union supervision of picketing.  
• Trade Union Act 2016 - Majority of Trade Union Act 2016 will be repealed. 

• Electronic balloting – Electronic balloting for statutory trade union ballots is expected to be introduced.  
• Family friendly - Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will become a day one right for eligible employees.  
• Fair Work Agency (“FWA”)  – The FWA will be established to bring together existing enforcement functions including:  minimum wage and Statutory Sick Pay (“SSP”) enforcement, the employment tribunal penalty scheme, labour exploitation and modern slavery, as well as introducing the enforcement of holiday pay policy. It is unclear when the FWA’s enforcement powers will commence.  
• Sick pay - SSP will be paid from the first day of sickness absence – removing the three-day waiting period.  The lower earnings limit will also be removed for SSP eligibility. For those earning below the lower earnings limit, a new system will be put in place to provide a fair earnings replacement.  
• Simplifying trade union recognition – The requirement at the outset of a statutory recognition application for the union to show there is likely to be majority support for trade union recognition will be removed.  The threshold requirement that at least 40% of eligible voters vote in favour in a recognition ballot will be removed.  The requirement for a union to show 10% membership of the proposed bargaining unit when applying to the CAC will be removed, replacing this with a test of anywhere between 2% and 10% (to be determined).  
• The protective award - The protective award which is available when employers have failed to collectively consult will be doubled from 90 days’ gross pay per affected employee to 180 days’ gross pay.
• Whistleblower protection – Whistleblowing protection will be extended by making it a qualifying disclosure when an employee reports that sexual harassment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur. 

• Dismissal and re-engagement – The provisions limiting the use of dismissal and re-engagement (aka “fire and rehire) by employers to change certain key terms of employment will take effect.  
• Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body – Regulations expected to establish the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body.
• Facilities for trade union officials and learning representatives – Employers must provide such accommodation and other facilities as is reasonable in all the circumstances.  
• Harassment 
• Sexual harassment – Employers’ duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace will be extended to taking “all reasonable steps”.  
• Third party harassment - Employer liability for third party harassment in relation to all relevant protected characteristics (not just sexual harassment) will be introduced.  
• Protection against detriment and industrial action – Workers will be protected against detriment for taking part in industrial action.  
• Public sector outsourcing - The Procurement Act 2023 will be amended to protect outsourced workers and those working with them.  The goal is to avoid a two-tier workforce by helping to ensure that when public services are outsourced the contractor’s direct hires and the incoming public sector workers are not treated less favourably than each other.
• Statement of trade union rights – Employers will be required to give workers a written statement informing them that they have the right to join a trade union.  
• Stricter tipping law – Employers will be required to consult with trade unions or elected representatives or if none exist, directly with workers, before drafting their initial written tips policy.  Once every three years after implementation employers will also be required to review and consult on the tips policy.  
• Time limits – Time limits will be increased to bring a number of tribunal claims (including discrimination and unfair dismissal) from three months to six months.  
• Trade union equality representatives – A new right will be introduced for trade union equality representatives to have time off and provision of facilities as is reasonable in all the circumstances.  
• Trade union rights of access – Qualifying trade unions will have enhanced rights of access to workplaces.  

• Bereavement leave - Bereavement leave will be extended to a wider group of people, including those who suffer pregnancy loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy.  
• Blacklisting – Strengthened protection against blacklisting.
• Collective redundancies – The obligation to collectively consult will be triggered where the employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant within a 90-day period or less either 1) 20 or more employees at one establishment or 2) a threshold number of employees (to be set by future regulations).   
• Equality action plans – Large employers (250 or more employees) will be required to develop and publish equality action plans under future regulations.  The plans will deal with prescribed matters such as gender equality.  
• Families/pregnancy – We can expect strengthened protection against dismissal for pregnant women, those who have been pregnant and those taking or returning from a period of statutory family leave.  The existing protection in relation to redundancy will be extended to dismissals for other reasons.
• Flexible working – It will be harder for employers to refuse a flexible working request as a test of reasonableness will be introduced.  
• Industrial relations framework – Further detailed regulations expected.
• Predicable contracts – Changes will come into force to help provide more predictable contracts.  Key changes include, a duty to offer guaranteed hours, a duty to provide reasonable notice of shifts, compensation for cancelled, moved or curtailed shifts and unfair dismissal and detriment protection.  The protections will be extended to agency workers. 
• Sexual harassment - Introducing a power to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as “reasonable”, to determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
• Umbrella companies - Regulation of umbrella companies.  
• Unfair dismissal - The qualifying period for unfair dismissal will be reduced from two years to six months.  The compensation cap will be lifted.  

• Non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) - NDAs used by employers will be void if attempting to preclude a worker from making an allegation of, or disclosure of information relating to relevant harassment or discrimination, or relating to the employer’s response to the harassment or discrimination or the making of the allegation or disclosure.  

Consultations launched:

• Trade union rights of access - Make Work Pay: trade union right of access - GOV.UK – consultation closed on 18 December 2025.
• Right to join a trade union - Make Work Pay: duty to inform workers of right to join a union - GOV.UK – consultation closed on 18 December 2025. 
• Protection of pregnant women and new mothers - Make Work Pay: enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers - GOV.UK – consultation closed on 15 January 2026. 
• Bereavement - Make Work Pay: leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss - GOV.UK – consultation closed on 15 January 2026.
• Fair pay agreement in adult social care - Fair pay agreement process in adult social care - GOV.UK – consultation closed on 16 January 2026. 
• Electronic and workplace balloting - Make Work Pay: draft code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots - GOV.UK – consultation closes on 28 January 2026.
• Plans for fair pay agreement in adult social care - Plans for fair pay agreements in adult social care (easy read) - GOV.UK – consultation closes on 6 March 2026. 

Further consultation expected on:

• Dismissal and re-engagement.
• Regulation of umbrella companies.
• Zero hours contracts.
• Trade union measures – including protection against detriments for taking industrial action and blacklisting.
• Tightening tipping law.
• Collective redundancy.
• Flexible working. 
• NDAs.