The landscape of employment law in the UK is currently undergoing a significant transformation following the Employment Rights Act 2025 receiving Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. While the Act is now officially law, its comprehensive reforms to workers' rights are being delivered in structured phases, meaning most changes have not yet taken effect. As these new measures are gradually implemented from 2026 to 2027, a critical question arises for businesses: when is the right time to review employment contracts and policies, is it now?
Cameron Jack, an Associate Solicitor (England & Wales), commented: “The Employment Rights Act introduces significant change for both employers and workers. While statutory law will ultimately prevail regardless of what is written in existing documentation, there is an immense benefit for employers to update their contracts and policies early. Securing absolute clarity now will help prevent disputes and ensure managers know exactly how to handle new rights and processes.”
Cameron further pointed out: “Many employers might feel they have time before the major 2027 changes concerning unfair dismissal hit, but with major implementations starting as early as April 2026, compliance planning needs to be ongoing. Communication plays a key role during this transition; employers must clearly explain to their workforce what is changing, what is not and be clear about the timing to maintain trust and transparency.”
Key Phases
To understand why a policy review is essential now, employers must look at the incoming timeline of changes.
Changes Already in Effect: Trade Union Reforms
While much focus is on the upcoming April 2026 implementations, employers must be aware that the Employment Rights Act is already law. Upon Royal Assent, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was repealed and several significant trade union reforms have already taken effect as of February 2026.
For businesses with unionised workforces, it is critical to understand these immediate shifts:
- Ballots and Mandates: The strict support threshold rule has been removed. Both private and public sectors now require a simple majority, though minimum turnout rules remain. Additionally, successful industrial action mandates now last for 12 months.
- Notice Periods: Trade unions are now only required to give ten days' notice of industrial action, reduced from 14 days.
- Protections and Picketing: Dismissing an employee for taking part in industrial action is now classed as 'automatically unfair', and the legal requirement for a designated picket supervisor has been removed.
Employers must ensure their management teams are fully briefed on these active changes to avoid immediate legal friction while preparing for the broader rights rollouts later this year.
April 2026: Major Implementation Phase
The first major wave of reforms hit on 6 April 2026.
Family Leave: Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will be available as day-one rights. There will be a period in which the notice period will be temporarily reduced, depending on the due date of a child.
- Sick Pay Reforms: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will see significant changes, notably the removal of the lower earnings limit and the requirement that it be paid from day one of absence. More people, including those on low incomes, will now be entitled to sick pay.
- Redundancy and Enforcement: The collective redundancy protective award will be increased from 90 days' pay to 180 days' pay per employee. Furthermore, there will be changes to triggers for collective redundancy across a business, rather than being site-specific. Internal HR policies and monitoring updates will be necessary to ensure compliance.
- Fair Work Agency: April 2026 will see the establishment of the Fair Work Agency, a new single enforcement body to inspect workplaces and enforce statutory rights.
October 2026: Heightened Harassment Protections and Tribunal Limits
Workplace culture and safety will come under stricter legal scrutiny in October 2026.
- Harassment Protection: A new duty will be introduced requiring employers to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment, alongside new liability for harassment from third parties.
- Tribunal Limits: Tribunal time limits will be extended to six months.
January 2027: Job Security and Dismissal
The most structural changes to the employment relationship take effect from 1 January 2027.
- Unfair Dismissal: Protection from unfair dismissal will become a right after just six months of employment.
- Compensatory Award for Unfair Dismissal: The limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will be removed entirely.
- Fire and Rehire: The new rules will strictly limit the use of fire and rehire practices.
2027: Zero-Hours and Shift Workers
Further changes planned for 2027 will heavily impact businesses relying on flexible workforces. Workers on zero-hours or shift contracts will gain the right to more predictable hours. If an employee works similar hours over a 28-week period, they will have the right to a contract reflecting that guaranteed pattern, though seasonal workers are expected to be excluded from this provision. Additionally, employers will be required to provide reasonable notice for working hours and shift changes. If shifts are cancelled or reduced at short notice, workers will be entitled to compensation. To prepare, employers must audit how they currently operate, reviewing shift patterns, contracts, and how they communicate with staff regarding scheduling.
Navigating the New Threshold for Flexible Working Requests
As part of the broader legislative changes planned for 2027, the Employment Rights Act introduces a more stringent framework for handling flexible working requests. While employers will still retain the right to refuse a request based on one of the eight established statutory business grounds, the legal burden of justification is significantly increasing. Under the new rules, any refusal must be both reasonable and explained, meaning that simply quoting a statutory ground will no longer be legally sufficient. While the eight existing statutory business reasons for refusing a request remain in place, employers can no longer just tick a box.
Employers will be explicitly required to state the specific grounds for their refusal and provide a detailed, contextual explanation as to why they believe those grounds are reasonable. For HR departments and line managers, this represents a major administrative shift, making it imperative to review flexible working policies now and train decision-makers to conduct thorough, well-documented assessments of every request to mitigate the risk of future tribunal claims.
The P&O Legacy: Seafarers' Rights and 'Fire and Rehire’
The infamous March 2022 P&O Ferries controversy, which saw nearly 800 seafarers abruptly dismissed and replaced by cheaper agency workers on less favourable terms, exposed significant loopholes that the Employment Rights Act 2025 now directly addresses. The Act introduces robust mandatory protections for seafarers scheduled for December 2026, compelling vessels operating out of UK ports to adhere to strict minimum standards regarding fair pay and working conditions or face severe port access penalties. Crucially, beyond the maritime industry, the Act tackles the broader, highly controversial practice of 'fire and rehire', or otherwise known as dismissal and re-engagement.
Scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2027, dismissing an employee to force through changes to specific terms and conditions, termed "restrictive variations", will become an automatically unfair dismissal. Tribunals will heavily scrutinise such practices, providing an exception only if the employer can demonstrate a genuine, real financial need to ensure the survival of the business. For employers, this signals the end of using the threat of dismissal to force through less favourable contractual terms, making it vital to review your policies surrounding contract variation and consultation today to ensure your HR practices are aligned with these strict incoming standards. Consultation on this remains ongoing.
What Employers Need to Do
With these rolling changes, HR and policy updates are critical. Waiting until the laws are fully enforced leaves businesses exposed to unnecessary legal friction. Furthermore, businesses need to address the need for better communication with employees and the need to ensure there is sufficient evidence of following due procedure.
Employers must review key areas immediately, including family leave and parental policies, sickness absence processes, and redundancy consultation procedures. Given the upcoming January 2027 changes to unfair dismissal, auditing probation, performance, and dismissal procedures is paramount. Likewise, bullying and harassment policies must be updated to clearly reflect expected behaviour, reporting routes, and reasoning, in line with the new October 2026 duties.
Giambrone and Partners’ employment lawyers have extensive experience in assisting businesses navigate complex legislative shifts smoothly, ensuring your contracts are robust, legally compliant, and secure absolute clarity for you and your employees.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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