Upcoming employment law changes 2025–2027: What UK employers need to know

Autumn 2025: Industrial Relations Changes

(Employment Rights Bill 2025, Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 – amendments)

• Minimum service levels in strikes removed

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 provisions are expected to be repealed under the Employment Rights Bill 2025, removing the legal requirement for certain sectors to maintain minimum service during strikes.

• Industrial action and unfair dismissal

Amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996 will make dismissal for participating in lawful industrial action automatically unfair, removing the current 12-week limit.

• Trade union rules simplified

Changes to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 include:

• Strike notice periods reduced from 14 to 10 days.
• Ballots pass with a simple majority.
• No requirement for a picket supervisor.
• Strike mandates extended from 6 to 12 months.
• Ballot/industrial action notice requirements simplified.
• Political fund regulations updated.

April 2026: Day-One Rights and Enforcement

(Employment Rights Bill 2025 – amendments to ERA 1996, SSP Regulations, and Trade Union law)

Paternity and parental leave reforms

• The Employment Rights Bill 2025 will amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 to give day-one rights to ordinary paternity leave and parental leave. It will also remove restrictions preventing paternity leave after Shared Parental Leave.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) reform

• Amendments to the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 will make SSP payable from day one and remove the Lower Earnings Limit.

Collective redundancy protective awards

• The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 will be amended to double the maximum protective award for failing to consult properly in collective redundancies – from 90 to 180 days’ pay.

Whistleblowing protection extended

• The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (as part of ERA 1996) will be amended to treat sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure, protecting whistleblowers.

Gender pay gap and menopause action plans

• Under the Employment Rights Bill 2025, large employers will be expected to publish voluntary action plans on gender pay gaps and menopause support, becoming mandatory in 2027.

Trade union law modernisation

• Changes to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 will enable simplified recognition procedures and allow electronic voting.

Fair Work Agency established

• The Employment Rights Bill 2025 will create a new statutory body – the Fair Work Agency – to consolidate enforcement of statutory rights including SSP and holiday pay.

October 2026: Expanding Protections

(Employment Rights Bill 2025 – amendments to ERA 1996, Equality Act 2010, and other statutory codes)

“Fire and rehire” outlawed

• The ERB will amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 so that dismissal and re-engagement on worse terms is an automatically unfair dismissal in most circumstances.

Stronger harassment duties

• The Equality Act 2010 will be amended to:
  o Impose a new duty to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment.
  o Reinstate employer liability for third-party harassment.
  o Void NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) that prevent workers disclosing harassment or discrimination.

Tipping law reforms

• The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 framework will be strengthened to require consultation with workers when setting tipping policies and updating them every three years.

Tribunal claim deadlines

• The ERB will extend the default time limit for bringing employment tribunal claims under the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 from three months to six.

Trade union rights expanded

• Amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 will require employers to inform staff of their right to join a union, provide greater access to facilities, and allow time off for equality representatives.

Public sector outsourcing protections

• A new statutory “two-tier code” will be introduced to prevent worse terms and conditions for staff transferred out of the public sector.

2027: Final Phase of Reforms

(Employment Rights Bill 2025 – phased commencement of ERA 1996 amendments, Equality Act reforms, new Codes)

Unfair dismissal: day-one right

• The Employment Rights Act 1996 will be amended so that unfair dismissal protection applies from day one of employment, instead of after two years.

Pregnancy and maternity protections

• New provisions will strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave.

Statutory bereavement leave

• The ERB will introduce a statutory right to bereavement leave, with details on pay still to be confirmed.

Zero-hours contracts and cancelled shifts

• Workers will gain the right to request guaranteed hours under amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996, alongside new protections requiring pay for cancelled or shortened shifts.

Flexible working strengthened

• Building on the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, the ERB will require employers not only to state reasons for refusing flexible working requests but also to explain why those reasons are reasonable.

Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans

• Following their voluntary introduction in 2026, these will become mandatory reporting obligations under the ERB.

Collective redundancy thresholds widened

• Amendments to TULRCA will require employers to consider redundancy numbers across the whole organisation, not just individual workplaces.

Further trade union protections

• Additional reforms will extend anti-blacklisting protections and modernise the UK’s industrial relations framework.

Umbrella companies regulation

• The ERB will expand the definition of “agency” in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 to include umbrella companies, bringing them into the enforcement regime.