“Roadmap” to the Employment Rights Bill

On 01 July 2025, the Government issued guidance setting out the expected dates of implementation of the measures proposed under the Employment Rights Bill. We have summarised some of the key dates from this newly published “roadmap” below.

Soon after Royal Assent (Likely autumn 2025)

• Strengthening of protection from dismissal for taking industrial action
• Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) 2023

April 2026

• Doubling of the protective award for breach of collective consultation requirements – increasing from 90 to 180 days’ gross pay
• Paternity Leave and Parental Leave to become day 1 rights
• Whistleblower protection for those who disclose sexual harassment
• Simplification of trade union recognition
• Removal of the lower earnings limit and waiting period for statutory sick pay

October 2026

• End of Fire and Rehire practices
• Requirement for employers to take “all reasonable” steps to prevent harassment
• Requirement for employers to prevent third party harassment of employees
• Extension to Employment Tribunal time limits – increasing from 3 months to 6 months
• Duty to inform workers of right to join a trade union

2027 (likely April or October)

• Day 1 protection from unfair dismissal
• Prevention of exploitation of zero hours contracts – guaranteed hours and notice of shifts
• Changes to the collective redundancy consultation threshold
• Greater rights for pregnant employees
• Extension of bereavement leave to anyone who is bereaved
• Requirement for refusal of a flexible working request to be reasonable

Consultation

The Government has said it remains committed to properly consulting with employers, trade unions and workers. Various phases of consultation on the new raft of measures have been planned to take place over the next year, starting with consultation on day 1 unfair dismissal rights sometime in Summer / Autumn 2025 and ending with consultations on matters such as collective redundancies and flexible working in Winter 2025/ Spring 2026.

Comment

The roadmap is helpful guidance as it means employers now have a timeline to work to and

can focus attention on the upcoming areas of change and also plan ahead.

One of the key takeaways from the timeline is that the changes to unfair dismissal rights are not planned to take effect until 2027. This was perhaps one of the more significant changes and it will be a relief for employers that they now have at least another 18 months to prepare for some of the bigger changes. Employers should also be mindful that the consultation on unfair dismissal is expected to open soon, and employers will have the opportunity to provide their thoughts on matters such as the statutory probationary period and, potentially, how long this should last.

However, there are still significant changes due to become effective next year including the end of “fire and rehire” practices. It is recommended that employers use this time to undertake contract audits and try to implement any changes needed before October 2026 when it will become much more difficult to do so.

You can read more about the Government’s roadmap by clicking the link here.