Employment Rights Act

The Updated Employment Rights Act 2025 Roadmap: What HR Professionals Need to Know

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) marks one of the most significant overhauls of UK employment law in a generation, reshaping how rights at work are defined, delivered and enforced across organisations. The Government’s updated implementation timeline, published in February 2026, has clarified when key reforms will come into force and given HR leaders a firmer picture of what to prepare for over the next 18 months.

1. Background – What is the Employment Rights Act 2025?

The ERA 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, replacing the Employment Rights Bill and formally becoming law. It sits alongside the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay, which aims to modernise the legal framework governing work and employment across Great Britain.

The Act introduces wide-ranging reforms touching everything from parental leave rights and statutory sick pay to protections against unfair dismissal and restrictions on ‘fire and rehire’ practices. Many of these changes build on existing employment rights legislation, but extend and strengthen them significantly.

2. What’s New in the Updated Timeline? (Key Dates & What They Mean)

The Government has revised the implementation timetable for some of the Act’s most impactful measures — particularly around the controversial fire and rehire reforms. Here’s a breakdown of what’s known so far:

Already in Force (December 2025)

• Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023

  
  

  This means that minimum service requirements (rules forcing a minimum level of staffing during strikes in certain sectors) were removed immediately when the ERA became law.

18 February 2026 – Early Changes

From mid-February 2026:

• Trade Union reforms: Simplified industrial action rules, including requirements for notices and ballots.

• Removal of the 10-year political fund ballot requirement for trade unions.

• Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action.

• Day-one notice requirements for certain family-related leave entitlements.

6 April 2026 – Major Worker Rights Reforms

April 2026 is the first major milestone for substantive employment rights changes, including:

• Extended parental leave rights – Day-one entitlement to unpaid parental leave and paternity notice (removing qualifying service requirements).

• Whistleblowing protections strengthened, including protections for reporting sexual harassment at work.

• Collective redundancy protective award increases, doubling the maximum period of protective award pay.

• Fair Work Agency (FWA) establishment: A new enforcement body to oversee compliance with a range of workplace rights, consolidating functions currently spread across multiple regulators.

January 2027 – Unfair Dismissal & “Fire and Rehire” Reforms

While many reforms are underway in 2026, some of the most impactful changes have now been pushed back to January 2027:

• Fire and rehire protections:

  
  

  These provisions will make it harder for employers to dismiss employees solely to impose new terms and conditions. Instead, such dismissals may be treated as automatically unfair if certain “restricted variations” are involved and the employee does not consent.

• Unfair dismissal protections:

  
  

  Measures reducing the qualifying period (from two years to six months for dismissal-related claims) and removing the statutory compensation cap are expected to take effect around this time, aligning with other substantive reforms.

  
  

3. Why This Roadmap Matters for HR and People Leaders

The phased delivery of ERA 2025 gives employers time to adapt but also brings complexity. Many organisations will need to review and adjust policies, practices, contracts and HR processes to align with the new rights as they are delivered. Key areas of focus include:

• Employment contract and handbook updates to reflect new protections and entitlements.

• Absence and parental leave management systems to handle expanded day-one statutory rights.

• Performance, dismissal and redundancy procedures to ensure compliance with strengthened unfair dismissal rules.

• Industrial relations and employee engagement strategies, given changes to trade union balloting and representations.

• Implementation of risk mitigation measures for sexual harassment and whistleblowing protection.

  
  

4. Preparing for the Future – Practical HR Action Steps

To navigate the ERA 2025 roadmap effectively, HR and people professionals should consider the following steps:

🔹 Build a detailed internal implementation plan mapped against the updated timeline.🔹 Engage legal and payroll experts early - especially for SSP changes, parental leave administration and dismissal procedures.

🔹 Train line managers and HR teams on new entitlements and legal obligations before each phase goes live.

🔹 Communicate proactively with employees about expanded rights and what they mean in practice.

🔹 Regularly review and update HR policies to keep pace with final secondary legislation and guidance as it emerges.

5. Looking Ahead

UK employment law is evolving rapidly. While the updated ERA 2025 timeline brings more clarity, several reforms are still subject to consultation and secondary regulations, meaning the detailed mechanics of some provisions remain under development. Staying informed, agile and proactive will be essential for HR teams and employers alike as these transformative changes take effect across 2026 and 2027. (cipd.org)

If you need any advice or support in implementing all these changes into your HR processes, please get in touch.