What Employers Should Know
The government have published an updated implementation timeline for those parts of the Employment Rights Act 2025 which will come into effect in 2027.
The new timeline looks as follows:
1 January 2027:
- Provisions on strengthening tipping laws;
- Reduction of unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months;
- Removal of cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards;
- Duty to provide workers with a written statement informing them of their right to join a trade union;
March 2027:
- Fire and rehire protections come into force;
- Action plans on gender and equality and menopause support plans become mandatory for public authorities with 250+ workers;
April 2027:
- Action plans on gender equality and menopause support plans become mandatory for private and voluntary sector employers with 250+ workers;
- Bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks;
- Extended blacklisting protections, including banning AI-generated blacklists and banning blacklisting by third parties;
- Organisation-wide threshold triggering collective redundancy consultation.
August 2027:
- Electronic balloting for statutory recognition and derecognition ballots;
September 2027:
- The ban on nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in workplace harassment or discrimination;
October 2027:
- Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women, new mothers, and those on protected forms of family leave;
- The reasonableness test to reject a flexible working request;
December 2027:
- Regulation of umbrella companies in force.
There are still a few changes for which the timing is yet to be confirmed, for issues such as guaranteed-hours rights, reasonable notice of shifts, and compensation for cancelled or changed shifts for zero or low hours and agency workers.
