Employment Rights Act 2025: What Has Changed and When

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the most significant overhaul of UK employment law since the Employment Rights Act 1996. It received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, and it covers a wide range of areas - from unfair dismissal protection and zero-hours contracts to statutory sick pay, parental leave, and trade union rights.

This guide explains the main changes, when they are expected to come into force, and what they mean in practice for workers and employers. One thing to understand before reading further: Royal Assent and commencement are different things. Most provisions in the Act require separate commencement regulations before they take effect. Throughout this guide, commencement dates are noted as expected or anticipated where they have not yet been confirmed in regulations. Always check GOV.UK and ACAS for the current position before relying on a new right.

What is in force now, and what is coming?

Law status - last updated 3 November 2026: The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, but most changes take effect only when commencement regulations bring them into force. Several are already in force, including the 6-month tribunal time limit (from 1 October 2026) and the stronger harassment protections (from 30 October 2026); the qualifying-period and compensation-cap changes have made commencement regulations and apply where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027. The dates below come from the commencement regulations, including SI 2026/954 (6-month tribunal time limit), SI 2026/1065 (harassment), SI 2026/759 (6-month limit for breach of contract claims) and SI 2026/559 (qualifying period and compensation cap) - always check GOV.UK for the current position before relying on a new right.

What does the Employment Rights Act 2025 do?

The Act makes substantial amendments to the existing framework of employment law. It does not replace the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the Equality Act 2010 - it amends them and introduces new standalone provisions. The changes are being implemented in stages, with different provisions having different commencement dates.

The government described this as part of a broader "Plan to Make Work Pay" agenda. The practical effect is a range of new rights and obligations that workers and employers need to understand as they are brought into force one by one.

How does the Act change the unfair dismissal qualifying period?

One of the most significant changes in the Act concerns unfair dismissal protection. Under the current law, a worker must have been employed for 2 years before they can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes this for employment ending on or after 1 January 2027.

The position is more nuanced than headlines often suggested. Early proposals floated a day-one right alongside a lighter-touch "statutory probationary period", but that did not survive into the enacted Act. Instead, the Act provides for the ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period to be reduced from 2 years to 6 months where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027 (SI 2026/559). From then, a worker will need 6 months' continuous service - rather than 2 years - before they can bring an ordinary unfair dismissal claim. Automatically unfair dismissal categories (such as whistleblowing, pregnancy and asserting a statutory right) continue to require no qualifying period at all.

The reduction to 6 months applies where the effective date of termination (usually the day employment ends) is on or after 1 January 2027 (SI 2026/559). It turns on when employment ends, not when notice was given: a worker given notice in 2026 whose employment ends in January 2027 is under the 6-month rule. Where employment ends before 1 January 2027, the 2-year rule applies.

If your employment ends before 1 January 2027, the existing 2-year rule governs your position. If you do not currently have 2 years' service, it is worth considering whether you have any discrimination or other statutory claim that does not require 2 years' service - those rights are unaffected by this change. See the unfair dismissal guide for detail on how the existing claim works.

The commencement regulations (SI 2026/559) already set the transitional rule: the new qualifying period applies by reference to the effective date of termination, as described above. Acas notes that parts of the wider 1 January 2027 package are still subject to government consultations, so it is worth checking the Acas Employment Rights Act 2025 page as 1 January 2027 approaches.

What are the new rights for zero-hours and low-hours contracts?

The Act introduces new rights for workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts. Existing law gave these workers very limited protection. An employer could keep someone on a zero-hours contract indefinitely, even where that worker was regularly working consistent hours every week, with no obligation to offer a stable arrangement.

Under the new framework, after a qualifying reference period a worker will have the right to be offered a contract that reflects the hours they are genuinely working. The employer must make this offer. A worker who prefers to remain on a flexible arrangement may be able to agree that with the employer - but the default position will shift in the worker's favour.

The length of the reference period and the precise mechanics of the right will be set out in regulations. These provisions are not yet in force. Acas lists them for 2027, and the government has not announced when in 2027. Until commencement regulations are in force, the existing position applies. This reform is most likely to affect workers in hospitality, retail, social care, and other sectors where zero-hours arrangements have historically been most prevalent.

How does the Act treat fire and rehire?

Fire and rehire - where an employer dismisses an employee and immediately offers to re-engage them, but on worse contractual terms - became a major public controversy following several high-profile industrial disputes. Employers used it as a mechanism to impose pay cuts or worsen conditions that employees had refused to accept through negotiation.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 addresses this directly. Under the new law, a dismissal carried out for the purpose of replacing the employee on worse contractual terms will be treated as automatically unfair dismissal in most cases. The employer has a defence only if they can show that the contractual change was genuinely necessary because the employer was facing, or was trying to avoid, financial difficulties serious enough to threaten the viability of the business - and that the dismissal was a proportionate response.

This is a demanding bar. A desire to reduce costs, improve margins, or respond to competitive pressure is not sufficient on its own. The employer must demonstrate genuine financial distress of sufficient severity to threaten the business's survival. These provisions replace the statutory code that previously governed fire and rehire, and give affected employees a materially stronger basis to bring a tribunal claim. Like the other reforms in the Act, they are being brought into force by commencement regulations - check the current status before relying on them.

How does the Act change statutory sick pay?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 makes two changes to statutory sick pay (SSP). Both represent meaningful improvements, particularly for lower-paid workers.

The first change removes the 3-day waiting period. Until 6 April 2026, SSP did not begin until the fourth day of sickness absence, leaving those first 3 days unpaid for most employees. Since 6 April 2026 the waiting period is abolished, so SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of absence.

The second change removes the lower earnings limit. Previously a worker had to earn at least a minimum threshold - the lower earnings limit for National Insurance purposes - to qualify for SSP at all, so workers earning below that threshold, often those in part-time or lower-paid roles, received nothing when they were sick. Since 6 April 2026 that threshold is removed, extending SSP eligibility to workers regardless of their earnings level.

Both changes came into force on 6 April 2026. For the lowest earners (those who would previously have fallen below the lower earnings limit), SSP is paid at the lower of the standard weekly rate or 80% of their normal weekly earnings. See the statutory sick pay guide for the current rules in detail.

What changes does the Act make to parental and bereavement leave?

The Act makes several changes to parental leave rights, building on earlier reforms and completing the implementation of provisions introduced by the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.

Parents of babies who require neonatal care will have enhanced rights to leave and statutory pay, allowing them to be present during that care without facing a choice between their job and their baby. These provisions are being brought fully into force as part of the broader package of changes.

On paternity leave, the Act introduces greater flexibility in how and when leave can be taken. The rigid rules around timing and notice that currently apply - which often mean fathers and partners cannot take leave at the point when it is most practically useful - are being eased to give more genuine flexibility.

What does the Act change for trade union and collective rights?

The Act makes changes to trade union rights and collective employment law. These provisions have more direct impact on the relationship between employers and unions than on most individual workers day to day, but they form part of the broader landscape within which workplace disputes develop.

The Act simplifies the statutory trade union recognition procedure, making it somewhat easier for unions to seek and obtain recognition in workplaces where a majority of workers support it. New rights of access for union officials allow them to enter workplaces to recruit members and meet with workers without the previous restrictions.

The Act also makes changes to the regulation of industrial action, including to notice requirements and balloting procedures. These changes are expected to increase the practical ability of unions to take lawful strike action.

What do these changes mean in practice?

The most important practical point is that these changes are arriving in stages. A right that appears in the Act text may not yet be in force. If you are dealing with an employment dispute right now, the question is which version of the law applied at the time the events happened.

If your dismissal or other treatment occurred before a provision came into force, that provision cannot help you. The law in force at the relevant time governs your position. This is especially important for the unfair dismissal qualifying period change, which turns on when employment ends, not when it started. Where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027, the 6-month qualifying period applies, whenever the worker was hired; where it is before that date, the 2-year rule applies.

In similar situations, the approach that has worked best is to identify the specific provision you believe applies, verify that commencement regulations have been made, confirm the commencement date has passed, and check that the transitional provisions do not exclude your case. Citing a right in a grievance letter or tribunal claim that has not yet commenced is at best unhelpful and at worst weakens the overall position.

The employment tribunal deadlines guide sets out the procedural steps for bringing a claim. The steps themselves are unchanged by the Act, but the time limit for most claims is now 6 months less 1 day where the act complained of happened on or after 1 October 2026 (3 months less 1 day before then).

How can you stay updated on the changes?

The provisions with the most immediate practical impact - particularly the unfair dismissal qualifying period and the zero-hours contract rights - are supported by ongoing secondary legislation and ACAS guidance that is being published as each commencement date approaches. Both are evolving rapidly.

GOV.UK publishes commencement orders as they are made under the Act. The ACAS website publishes detailed guidance on each major provision in advance of commencement. Those two sources are the most reliable way to confirm whether a specific right is currently in force and how it applies.

The unfair dismissal guide and redundancy pay guide on this site cover the existing law in detail. Both already reflect the commencement dates confirmed so far, and are reviewed as further commencement regulations and Acas guidance are published.