The Government has just published its timetable for implementing its ‘flagship’ Employment Rights Bill.
In some ways it’s good news – the most significant change and the one most employers had been wary of is the introduction of the ability of employees to make a claim for unfair dismissal from day 1 of their employment. The introduction of this is now at the end of the queue and currently scheduled for 2027.
But that’s no excuse to relax – the measures will be introduced, and 18 months or so is not long to introduce systems, train your staff and ensure that good practices are embedded within your business. So it’s not so much a stay of execution, more an opportunity to make sure your processes and procedures are compliant and that your management team knows what they are and how they work.
Our advice
Audit your policies and procedures now. Make any changes and train your teams as soon as possible so that when 2027 arrives you’ll be confidently compliant and prepared for the new regulations.
How Roythornes can help
We can help your HR teams by auditing your procedures an processes to ensure they’ll comply with the new regulations. We can also train your teams using real life examples of issues that could arise in the workplace, ensuring they are ready and able when the changes come into force.
The full timetable
There are a lot more changes in the legislation coming into force over the next two years – this is now the Government’s timetable:
Implementation Roadmap
Immediate (awaiting Royal Assent):
- Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and major parts of the Trade Union Act 2016
- New protections preventing dismissal for participating in industrial action
April 2026:
- Doubling the protective award for failure to collectively consult where 20+ redundancies are planned
- ‘Day 1’ rights to paternity and unpaid parental leave
- Enhanced whistleblower protections
- Establishment of a Fair Work Agency
- Statutory Sick Pay improvements (removal of lower earnings limit and waiting period)
- Simplified trade union recognition and digital/workplace balloting systems
October 2026:
- Ban on fire-and-rehire
- Launch of a Fair Pay Agreement Negotiating Body for adult social care
- Stronger tipping laws
- A strengthened duty on employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment
- Expanded trade union rights
2027:
- Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans (voluntary from April 2026)
- Additional rights for pregnant workers
- Bereavement leave
- Protections against zero hour contract abuse
- Umbrella company regulation
- ‘Day 1’ unfair dismissal rights
As always, we will keep you in touch with progress and further developments as they arise. If you have any questions about the Bill or how you can prepare for the changes, please contact our employment law team.