Employment Rights Bill 2024 Is Now Law: What Changes for UK Employers
The Employment Rights Bill 2024 became the Employment Rights Act 2025 in December 2025. This guide covers what has already changed, what takes effect in late 2026 and 2027, and what employers should do to prepare.
The Employment Rights Bill 2024 is the biggest overhaul of UK employment law in a generation. Introduced in October 2024, it received Royal Assent in December 2025 and is now the Employment Rights Act 2025. For UK employers, understanding what's changing — and when — is essential to staying compliant and avoiding costly tribunal claims. The Bill's passage is recorded on Parliament's Bills website, and the government publishes a timeline of when each measure takes effect.
The changes are being phased in: some took effect in April 2026, more arrive in October 2026 and January 2027, and the rest are listed for 2027. This guide covers the key changes, when each one applies, and what employers need to do to prepare.
Implementation timeline (GOV.UK, updated 25 September 2026): already in force — SSP from day one with no earnings limit, day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave, a doubled collective redundancy protective award (6 April 2026), and a 6-month time limit for most tribunal claims (1 October 2026). Next — stronger sexual harassment duties and trade union access (30 October 2026), then a 6-month unfair dismissal qualifying period and fire-and-rehire protections (January 2027). Guaranteed hours, shift notice, flexible working, bereavement leave and pregnancy protections are listed for 2027.
1. Unfair Dismissal After 6 Months, Not 2 Years
This is the headline change. Employees currently need two years of continuous service before they can claim unfair dismissal. The Bill originally proposed protection from day one; the Act as passed cuts the qualifying period to 6 months, for dismissals from 1 January 2027, and removes the cap on the compensatory award.
The day-one right and the statutory probation period that went with it did not make it into the final Act. In practice, the first six months of employment become the window in which you decide whether someone is right for the job.
What this means in practice
- Make probation count — a probation period that runs past six months no longer protects you from an unfair dismissal claim. Review new starters well before the six-month mark.
- Fair process from six months — after six months' service a dismissal needs a fair reason and a fair procedure, as it does after two years today.
- More documentation from day one — keeping records of performance, conduct, and any concerns from the outset becomes critical.
Action required:Review your probation policies and hold documented review meetings before the six-month mark. From 1 January 2027, anyone dismissed after six months' service can bring an unfair dismissal claim, and compensation is no longer capped.
2. Zero-Hours Contract Changes
The Act gives new rights to workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts — one of the most operationally complex changes employers will face. The government lists them for 2027, with timings to be updated after consultation; the detail (reference periods, notice lengths, payment amounts) will be set in regulations.
Right to guaranteed hours
Workers who regularly work hours over a reference period will have to be offered a contract that reflects those hours. The length of the reference period will be set in regulations. Employers who use zero-hours workers as de facto permanent staff will need to formalise those arrangements.
Right to reasonable notice of shifts
Workers will be entitled to reasonable notice of their shifts and of any change or cancellation. The minimum notice will be set in regulations, but the principle is clear: last-minute rotas will need to change. Our guide to shift notice under the Employment Rights Act covers what the Act says.
Compensation for late cancellations
Where a shift is cancelled or curtailed at short notice, workers will be entitled to compensation. This directly addresses the common practice of cancelling shifts after workers have turned down other work or arranged childcare.
| Zero-Hours Change | Employer Implication |
|---|---|
| Guaranteed hours offer | Must offer contracts reflecting hours regularly worked over a reference period set in regulations |
| Advance shift notice | Cannot schedule workers at the last minute without warning |
| Short-notice cancellation pay | Must compensate when shifts are cancelled late |
Accurate records of every shift worked — including start and end times — will be essential to determine what guaranteed hours to offer. Use our zero-hours contract software to track hours automatically, or calculate holiday entitlements using our zero-hours holiday calculator.
3. Flexible Working: Refusals Become Harder
The right to request flexible working became a day-one right in April 2024 (under the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023). The Employment Rights Act 2025 goes further — making it harder for employers to refuse requests. The government lists this change for 2027.
Under the Act, employers must not only cite one of the eight statutory grounds for refusal, but also show that refusing is reasonable. This shifts the balance: a technically valid reason will no longer automatically justify a refusal if it cannot be shown to be proportionate in the circumstances.
Employers should review their flexible working policies and ensure managers are trained to consider requests on their individual merits. See our flexitime management software for tools to manage varied working patterns.
4. Fire and Rehire: Near-Total Restriction
The practice of dismissing employees and re-engaging them on worse contractual terms — “fire and rehire” — is heavily restricted under the Act from January 2027, except in very limited circumstances.
- Automatic unfair dismissal — dismissing an employee for refusing to accept a variation of their contract will be automatically unfair in almost all cases.
- Narrow exception — fire-and-rehire may only be permissible where the employer faces genuine financial distress that threatens the viability of the business as a going concern.
- Code of practice — the statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement has applied since July 2024; tribunals can increase awards where it isn't followed.
Employers seeking to change terms and conditions must instead negotiate and obtain employee consent through genuine consultation.
5. Collective Redundancy: Bigger Awards, Wider Threshold
Collective consultation is triggered when an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days: at least 30 days' consultation for 20 to 99, and 45 days for 100 or more. The Act changes two things.
- The maximum protective award for failing to consult doubled from 90 to 180 days' pay from 6 April 2026.
- A new threshold that counts redundancies across the whole business, not just one establishment, is listed for 2027, so more employers will be caught by collective consultation.
Use our redundancy pay calculator to ensure statutory redundancy payments are calculated correctly during any restructuring.
6. Statutory Sick Pay from Day One
Before 6 April 2026, SSP was not payable for the first three days of sickness absence (the “waiting days”), and employees had to earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (£125 a week in 2025/26) to qualify. The Act removed both barriers, and the changes took effect on 6 April 2026: SSP is now £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
SSP from day one of sickness
The three waiting days are abolished — SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness.
Lower earnings threshold removed
Part-time workers, zero-hours workers, and lower-paid employees who previously fell below the threshold now qualify for SSP. Where 80% of their average weekly earnings is less than £123.25, they get the 80% figure instead.
For employers, this means SSP costs will increase slightly — but the bigger implication is that accurate absence records and earnings data become even more critical. Use our statutory sick pay calculator to check entitlements.
7. Equality: Harassment and Third-Party Liability
The duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace came into force in October 2024 under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. The Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens this from 30 October 2026 by:
- “All reasonable steps” — employers must take all reasonable steps, not just reasonable steps, to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.
- Third-party harassment — employers will be under a duty not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties (such as customers or clients). This brings back third-party liability, which was removed in 2013.
- Specified steps — ministers gain a power to set out, in later regulations, specific steps employers must take to prevent sexual harassment.
Employers should review their harassment prevention policies, provide up-to-date training, and ensure they have processes for reporting and investigating complaints from third-party interactions.
8. Trade Union Rights Strengthened
The Act brings the biggest expansion of trade union rights in decades, phased in through 2026 and 2027:
- Simplified recognition process — from 6 April 2026 the likely-majority test on application and the 40% support threshold in recognition ballots were removed, making recognition easier.
- New rights for union representatives — new rights and protections for trade union representatives from 30 October 2026.
- Right of access — a strengthened right for unions to access workplaces from 30 October 2026, and a duty to tell workers they can join a union from January 2027.
Employers in sectors with historically low union membership should be aware that these changes may lead to increased union activity.
9. Family Leave Entitlements
The Act brings in family-friendly rights in two stages:
- Day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave — since 6 April 2026 there is no qualifying service for paternity leave or unpaid parental leave (Statutory Paternity Pay still needs 26 weeks' service).
- Bereavement leave — a wider right to bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss, is listed for 2027, with the detail set in regulations.
- Enhanced pregnancy and maternity protection — stronger protection from dismissal for pregnant women and new mothers is listed for 2027; the detail will be set in regulations.
- Redundancy priority (already in force) — since April 2024, under the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023, priority for suitable alternative employment in a redundancy runs from pregnancy until 18 months after the birth.
Use our maternity and paternity leave tracker to manage these entitlements and ensure compliance from day one.
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10. What Employers Should Do Now
With the next changes arriving in October 2026 and January 2027, and more listed for 2027, employers have a window to prepare — but it is narrowing. Here is a practical action plan:
1. Audit your probation processes before January 2027
Formalise probation review meetings, keep written notes, and make sure every new starter is reviewed well before six months' service. From 1 January 2027 that is when unfair dismissal protection starts.
2. Review your zero-hours arrangements
Identify workers who regularly work consistent hours and prepare for guaranteed hours offers. Review your shift scheduling and cancellation processes. Ensure your time-tracking system records every shift worked.
3. Update your flexible working policy
Ensure your policy reflects day-one rights and the strengthened reasonableness test. Train managers to genuinely consider requests rather than defaulting to refusal.
4. Check your timesheet and absence management systems
The new rights — from SSP on day one to guaranteed hours offers — all depend on accurate records. Manual spreadsheets will not be sufficient for most employers. Purpose-built software creates the audit trail you need.
5. Train managers on new day-one rights
Many of these changes require front-line managers to handle situations differently from day one of a new hire's employment. Training is not optional — it is your primary defence against tribunal claims.
How TimeTally Helps You Comply
Many of the Employment Rights Act's requirements depend on one thing: accurate records. Whether it is proving the hours worked during a zero-hours reference period, recording sickness absence from day one for SSP, or showing when a rota was published, employers who already have robust record-keeping systems will find compliance significantly easier.
TimeTally is built for exactly this. It provides:
- Hour records from clock-ins to support Working Time Regulations and National Minimum Wage record-keeping — see our labour compliance features
- Timesheet approval workflows with a record of who approved what — see timesheet approval software
- Leave management with your own leave types for statutory and company leave, including bereavement and family leave — see leave tracking software
- A clear view of missing timesheets so gaps are spotted before you need the records — see how to stop late timesheets
Tribunal risk:Without records you can't show what hours were worked or why a decision was made. From October 2026 most tribunal claims can be brought up to 6 months after the event, and from January 2027 unfair dismissal claims open after 6 months' service with no cap on compensation, so keep evidence of fair treatment from early in employment.
TimeTallyThe Compliance-Ready Timesheet for UK Employers
From zero-hours reference periods to SSP from day one — TimeTally keeps the hours, leave and absence records the Employment Rights Act relies on.
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