Employment Rights Bill roadmap - where are we heading?
The Government has published the roadmap for the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill.
It has promised consultation to determine the most effective way that it can bring about the intended changes in the workplace, including hearing employer perspectives on how these changes will affect existing systems and processes, and the steps employers will need to take to adapt to these reforms.
In addition to consultation, it promises guidance, support, "time to prepare" as well as a commitment to ensuring the enforcement landscape has the necessary capacity and capability to uphold the new requirements.
It has set out a phased consultation process from Summer/Autumn 2025 through to Winter/early 2026 together with a phased implementation approach. We've set out below a table highlighting a short list of the key employment law measures that will be introduced and when the measure will take effect.
|
Measure |
When will measure take effect |
|
Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award |
April 2026 |
|
'Day 1' Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave |
April 2026 |
|
Additional whistleblowing protections |
April 2026 |
|
Fair Work Agency body established |
April 2026 |
|
Fire and rehire prohibition |
October 2026 |
|
Requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees |
October 2026 |
|
Obligation on employers not to permit harassment of their employees by third parties |
October 2026 |
|
Employment tribunal time limits changes |
October 2026 |
|
Gender pay gap and menopause action plans |
April 2026 (voluntary), 2027 (mandatory) |
|
Rights for pregnant workers |
2027 |
|
Collective redundancy – collective consultation threshold |
2027 |
|
Flexible working |
2027 |
|
Bereavement leave |
2027 |
|
Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts and applying zero hours contract measures to agency workers |
2027 |
|
‘Day 1’ right – protection from unfair dismissal |
2027 |
For a comprehensive list of all measures and timeframes please see the Government's full roadmap here.
For links to our previous podcasts on the Employment Rights Bill please click here. If would like any further information or would like to discuss the content of this alert please contact the authors or your usual Stephenson Harwood contact.