The progression of the Employment Rights Bill

In a single piece of legislation, the Employment Rights Bill (the "Bill") will implement some of the most widespread reforms to employment law in decades. 

After passing through the “reading” stages of parliamentary consideration, the Bill entered what is referred to as the “ping-pong” phase. This occurs when the House of Commons and the House of Lords send a bill back and forth with proposed amendments. The Lords continuously amended the Bill with a view to removing: (i) the day-one protection against unfair dismissal (instead suggesting a six-month qualifying period); (ii) the proposed employer duty to offer guaranteed hours; and (iii) the elimination of the turnout requirement for industrial action ballots. The Commons, in turn, have continuously voted to reject these amendments. 

Earlier this month (after the date on which we held our latest Law Lab Webinar), the government conceded the day one-right to unfair dismissal protection and instead agreed to accept the Lords’ proposed 6-month qualifying period. However, it also proposed to remove the overall limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal. After some resistance, this proposal was accepted by the Lords on 16 December, allowing the Bill to pass. It now awaits Royal Assent to become law.

The government’s implementation roadmap remains in place. This sets out the key upcoming milestones, as further detailed below. 

Royal Assent

Now that the Bill has passed, Royal Assent is expected before the end of December. Once the Bill receives Royal Assent, it will become law. Several measures will likely come into force soon after Royal Assent. These include:

• Protections against dismissal for taking part in industrial action;
• Simplification of industrial action notices and ballot notices;
• Removal of the ten-year requirement for trade union political funds; and
• Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and most of the Trade Union Act 2016.

From the point of Royal Assent, implementation dates will likely become much more fixed. Many employers will need to look to briefing their leadership teams, updating project plans, and carrying out internal audits at this stage. Employers will also need to consider communicating the changes to their employees to build trust and reduce workforce anxiety.

After Royal Assent

Some changes will come into force two months after Royal Assent, including:

• Strengthened protections against blacklisting;
• Removal of the industrial action ballot turnout threshold;
• Reduction of the period of notice of industrial action which is required to be provided to the employer from 14 to 10 days; and
• Provisions which will allow the implementation of electronic balloting for industrial action to be put in place.

It will be important to review, in advance, all record-keeping policies and disciplinary processes to keep abreast of these developments. Additionally, protocols and processes for industrial action may require to be reviewed, keeping in mind that industrial action will likely become more accessible. 

Changes from April 2026

Thereafter, further reforms are expected in April 2026. These include:

• A day-one right to unpaid parental leave;
• A day-one right to paternity leave and potentially the ability to take paternity leave following shared paternal leave;
• A right to statutory sick pay from day one of sickness and removal of the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay;
• The establishment of the Fair Work Agency;
• Provisions which allow the threshold for statutory union recognition to be lowered from 10% to anywhere between 2% and 10%;
• Sexual harassment disclosures to be deemed public interest disclosures; and
• Protective award for failure to consult properly during a collective redundancy increased from 90 to 180 days’ pay.

The impact of these changes will be wide-ranging. In particular, the Fair Work Agency will create a new level of oversight, requiring additional care and consideration of employment policies and practices. 

Changes from October 2026

Further changes will be implemented in October 2026. Including:

• A new employer duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment;
• A new employer duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent third-party harassment of employees;
• Reforms to tipping practices;
• Extension of time limits to bring a tribunal claim from three to six months;
• Limitations on the practice of fire and re-hire and fire and replace;
• A new employer duty to provide a statement of trade union rights;
• Strengthened protections against detriment for taking part in industrial action; and
• Enhanced rights to time off and facilities for union representatives, including union officials, union learning representatives and union equality representatives.

These reforms introduce active, and not passive, duties which will require to be reviewed and addressed. Furthermore, particularly with the extension of tribunal time limits, these changes may well result in an increase in Employment Tribunal claims. 

The remaining changes coming into force in 2027 

The remaining changes brought in by the Bill will come into force in 2027, including:

• A six-month qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal and removal of the cap on unfair dismissal compensation;
• An enhanced employee right to request flexible working;
• A new right to bereavement leave, potentially including for pregnancy loss;
• Enhanced protections against dismissal after statutory family leave, pregnancy and maternity leave; and
• A new duty on employers to offer guaranteed hours and provide reasonable notice of shifts, changing the way zero hours contracts will function in practice.
  
  

Spotlights  

Several of the upcoming reforms are considered in more depth below. 

Parental and paternity leave

Currently, employees require at least one year of service before being entitled to unpaid parental leave and at least 26 weeks’ service for paternity leave. The Bill will abolish these service thresholds in April 2026, meaning a new hire could request parental leave or paternity leave without having to gain any specific length of service. The Bill will also remove the restriction that currently prevents someone from taking paternity leave after shared parental leave.

Importantly, however, the Bill does not introduce a day one right to paternity pay, and parental leave remains unpaid, so the practical impact for employees is relatively limited. 

That said, organisations should take steps to ready themselves for these changes. Manager training and policy reviews will be key, as is the case for many of the changes introduced by the Bill. In particular, organisations should consider whether enhanced paternity pay will be offered as a day-one right.  

Statutory Sick Pay ("SSP")

Currently, only employees earning above a certain threshold are eligible for SSP. Even then, SSP usually only begins from the fourth consecutive day of sickness. 

From April 2026, SSP will become payable from the first day of sickness absence and the lower earnings limit will be removed. Therefore, a broader range of employees will be entitled to sick pay, and more absences will be paid from day one.

Of course, this change has financial consequences for businesses. More workers (especially part-time, low-paid, or variable-hours workers) will become eligible for SSP. Payroll systems and HR absence‑management systems may need to be updated to avoid underpaying, overpaying or miscalculating entitlement.

Harassment 

Sexual harassment
Currently, there is a proactive duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The Bill will strengthen this proactive duty, requiring employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and give the government powers to set out what amounts to “reasonable steps” in regulations. 

This change is intended to come into force from October 2026. 

Employers will need to carry out a detailed assessment of the potential risks within their organisation, including identifying issues such as working hours, staffing levels, social activities, alcohol use at work functions, power imbalances, and isolated working. 

Clear anti-harassment policies will be essential. They should set out informal and formal reporting routes, offer reassurance on confidentiality and explain the investigation process so that employees understand what will happen when a report is made. 

Training for all employees will be critical, and organisations should consider more extensive training for those in managerial positions to properly equip them with identifying and addressing any issues that arise, or are reported. 

Third-party harassment
The Bill also introduces a new duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent third-party harassment of employees in the course of their employment. This will cover all types of harassment, not just sexual harassment. This change is scheduled to take effect in October 2026. 

As with the duty to prevent sexual harassment, employers will need to carry out a detailed risk assessment identifying the risk of third-party harassment occurring and setting out the steps it will take to minimise any such risks. Policies should also be updated to ensure they are fit for purpose to cover third-party harassment. 

Contractual arrangements with customers, contractors and suppliers will also need to be reviewed, in light of this new obligation. 

Unfair dismissal 

As discussed at the recent Law Lab, the Bill had intended to make protection from unfair dismissal a day-one right. However, in order to resolve parliamentary deadlock and allow the Bill to progress, the government stepped back from this in favour of a six-month qualifying period. This six-month qualifying period is intended to come into force from January 2027.

Perhaps more significantly, and as part of what would appear to be a political compromise, the Bill removes the cap on compensation in unfair dismissal claims. The government has committed to creating an impact assessment analysing the effect of removing this cap prior to these changes coming into force in 2027.

This means compensation will be assessed on actual financial loss, significantly increasing the financial exposure to employers faced with claims for unfair dismissal. This will have significant implications, and we will provide further commentary in due course.

Consultations

Open consultations
As part of its implementation roadmap, the government has initiated a series of consultations on select reforms outlined in the Bill. Four consultations were launched recently and remain open. They cover: 

• Trade union right of access: This consultation seeks views on how unions should request access to workplaces, how employers should respond, and how agreements for access should be enforced if they are breached. This consultation closes on 18 December 2025.
  
  
• Duty to inform workers of right to join a union: This consultation seeks stakeholder views on introducing a new legal requirement for employers to provide workers with a written statement of their right to join a trade union. The consultation explores key questions, including when and how often employers should give this information and what form the statement should take. This consultation also closes on 18 December 2025.
  
  
• Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant employees and new mothers: The key issues under this consultation focus on when and how pregnant women and new mothers can be dismissed, including whether each of the current potentially fair reasons for dismissal should be narrowed or removed altogether in those circumstances. This consultation closes on 15 January 2026.
  
  
• Bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss: This consultation seeks stakeholder views on the proposal to create a new right to unpaid bereavement leave. Stakeholders are asked for their opinions on eligibility requirements for this right. This consultation also closes on 15 January 2026. 

Upcoming consultations
Further consultations are expected, including in relation to zero hours contracts and unfair dismissal rights. However, these consultations will not open until after the Bill receives Royal Assent and becomes law.   

This means that views on whether certain changes should come into force will not be relevant. Instead, the government will only be looking on opinions as to how these reforms should take effect. 

If you would like to discuss any of the ERB changes in more detail, please reach out to a member of our employment team. 

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