Key Employment Law Changes – Updated Timeline

The Department for Business & Trade has published an updated timeline setting out the implementation dates for the various changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The key updated dates are as follows (please note that this list does not include all changes being implemented on those dates):

31 August 2026

• Reform allowing trade union ballot processes to take place electronically rather than in-person or postal methods.

1 October 2026

• Extension of Employment Tribunal time limits to bring a claim from three months to six months.

30 October 2026

• Duty to prevent sexual harassment of employees – employers must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent the sexual harassment of its employees by other employees.
• Duty to prevent third-party harassment of employees – employers must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment of its staff by third parties, for example customers, clients, suppliers, delivery personnel and contractors. This duty covers harassment related to all protected characteristics.
• Right to a statement of trade union rights – duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. The exact scope and recommended wording of this requires further substantive regulations.
• Trade unions’ rights of access – provisions allowing trade unions and employers to enter into “access agreements” for union officials to access employers’ workforces for various purposes (excluding to organise industrial action).
• Other trade union-related rights – new rights for union representatives, including the requirement to provide facilities, time off and provision of facilities for union equality representatives and protection against detriment for taking industrial action.

“End of 2026”

• The reforms to laws on ‘tipping’ (particularly relevant to the hospitality sector), which were previously expected to come into force in October 2026, have been pushed back to the end of this year.

January 2027

• Reduction of unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months – this landmark change is expected to come into force on 1 January 2027, although we do not yet have an exact confirmed date.
• Removal of compensatory award statutory cap – in unfair dismissal cases, meaning potentially uncapped liability in an Employment Tribunal.
• Fire and rehire changes – ban on fire and rehire except in extremely limited circumstances.

Practical implications for Employers

Employers have a relatively short window in which to prepare for these changes. Key steps include reviewing and updating anti-harassment policies and training programs, considering the implications of third-party harassment liability for customer-facing roles, assessing the impact of workplace access rights on operational arrangements, and reviewing performance management and probationary periods in anticipation of the January 2027 changes.

Given the pace and breadth of these reforms, early preparation will be essential to ensure compliance when the various provisions come into force.

Contact our employment law solicitors today

Our team is here to help support your business through this period of unprecedented employment law transformation and to help you prepare as much as possible in advance of the changes.

If you have any questions or concerns about the updates provided above, please contact a member of our Employment Law team. You can use our online enquiry form or call 0330 191 5713.