The Government has unveiled its Employment Rights Bill Roadmap (the Roadmap), fulfilling a major election pledge which will impact industries and workplaces up and down the country. The Roadmap sets out a phased approach for the planned reforms, which are poised to kick off one of the most significant transformations in workplace rights in decades.
With the House of Commons due to begin its summer recess this month and returning on 1 September, it is unlikely that the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) will pass through Parliament until later in the autumn, if not next year. Nonetheless, the Roadmap packs in good detail in terms of the proposed dates for implementation of the changes and associated consultations. A key objective of the release of this document is to allow employers sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the new legal obligations and adjust their policies and procedures accordingly.
Below, we flag some of the key changes which employers should note:
Royal Assent or soon afterwards
Following Royal Assent (when the bill becomes an Act of Parliament) many of the trade union friendly measures will be implemented, including:
- New protections against dismissal for taking industrial action
- Substantial rollback of the Trade Union Act 2016
- Repeal of the Strikes (minimum Services Levels) Act 2023
- New safeguards for employees involved in industrial action, with employers no longer being permitted to dismiss staff for participating in lawful strikes or protests
Employment Law changes from April 2026
In the spring of next year, we are expecting the first significant wave of changes:
- Day one rights to unpaid parental leave and paternity leave will be introduced
- Whistleblowing protections to be strengthened
- Changes to the rules regarding recognition of trade unions
- Establishment of the Fair Work Agency, a new Executive Agency based out of the Department for Business and Trade which will enforce certain employment legislation
- Statutory sick pay will now be available to lower earners and the waiting period will be removed, making it payable from the first day of sickness absence
- Failure to conduct proper collective redundancy consultations will now carry a maximum award of 180 days’ pay, up from 90
- Simplification regarding the process for industrial action notices and the related balloting process
Employment Law changes from October 2026
In the second half of 2026, we can expect the next phase of changes:
- A series of measures aimed at restricting the use of ‘fire and rehire’
- Raising the employer duty to prevent sexual harassment by requiring all reasonable steps to be taken
- New obligation for employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties, such as clients and customers
- Reforms to the tipping, requiring employers to pass on all tips to staff:
- Extension of time limits for brining tribunal claims from the current position of three months to six months
Further changes in 2027
In 2027, we expect to see some of the changes which have occupied the public discourse and attracted much media and press attention:
- Unfair dismissal protection to be extended to all employees from Day One, removing the existing two-year qualifying threshold
- More accountability required from employers when requesting flexible working arrangements
- New restrictions will be placed on zero-hour contracts, including mandatory pay for cancelled shifts and a right for workers to request more consistent working hours
- Strengthened pregnancy protections for workers
- Introduction of day one right to bereavement leave
Agreed government amendments since publishing of the Roadmap
Since the release of the Roadmap, the Government have also published a series of amendments which are highly likely to be accepted. In the interests of providing a holistic overview of recent developments on the ERB, these are also covered below:
- A set of measures aimed at strengthening protections for individuals working under zero-hour, low-hour, and agency contracts
- Bereavement leave for parents who experience pregnancy loss after fewer than 24 weeks of pregnancy, essentially creating a new miscarriage leave
- A revision of the fire and rehire provisions following criticism for initially being too stringent, meaning now a dismissal of an employee will only be automatically unfair if an employer attempts and an employee refuses a ‘restricted variation’, rather any variation
- New rules aimed at eliminating the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in certain situations, meaning NDAs (including those presently used in Settlement Agreements) be rendered void if they seek to prevent someone from disclosing or alleging discrimination or harassment
Final Thoughts
The ERB is set to usher in a sweeping overhaul of employment laws and employers should be preparing how exactly to navigate these waves of changes which are expected across the next half of this decade.
Although it feels distant now, the publishing of this Roadmap shows that these changes are no longer just election promises, they’re on a clear path to becoming the new normal.