What should employers do?
Employers should review their existing work regulations, anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies, and other workplace-related procedures to assess whether they meet the new statutory requirements. If the required rules, procedures and frequency of measures are not already set out in a collective bargaining agreement or work regulations, employers will need to adopt separate internal regulations.
Consultation requirements
The draft regulations will need to be agreed with the company trade union organisation, or, where more than one such organisation operates at the employer, with those organisations. If agreement with all trade union organisations cannot be reached, the employer should consult the representative trade union organisations, each representing at least 5% of the employer’s workforce.
If no agreement is reached within 30 days of the draft being presented, the employer may determine the final wording of the regulations independently, taking into account the outcome of the consultations. If no trade union organisation operates at the employer, the regulations should be agreed with employee representatives elected in accordance with the procedure adopted by the employer.
Key deadlines
The new provisions will enter into force on 5 November 2026. Employers will have six months to align their work regulations with the new requirements or to adopt separate internal regulations, meaning that the relevant changes should be implemented by 5 May 2027. From a practical perspective, employers should consider starting the review process in advance, particularly where consultations with trade unions or employee representatives will be required.
