The second and third set of Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations have been made, bringing into force various provisions within the Act in early April, the most noteworthy of which are outlined in this article.
Coming fully into force on 6 April 2026
- Protected disclosures relating to sexual harassment – explicitly treats disclosures relating to sexual harassment as protected under whistleblowing legislation, strengthening worker rights.
- Collective redundancy consultation: protected period – this will double protective awards (from 90 days to 180 days) where there has been a failure to collectively consult. This does not apply in relation to dismissals taking effect before 6 April 2026.
- Duty to keep annual leave records – it will become an obligation that employers keep ‘adequate’ annual leave records, including holiday pay records, for six years. It is important to note that the Fair Work Agency will have enforcement powers over this in due course.
- Trade union recognition – various amendments to simplify the trade union recognition process will come in, including changing support thresholds in recognition ballots. The changes to the trade union recognition process will take effect from 6 April 2026, but subject to transitional provisions.
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – SSP will be payable from the first day of sickness absence, removing the three-day waiting period and the lower earnings requirement will be removed entitling all qualifying employees to the lower of the statutory rate or 80% of average weekly earnings during periods of sickness absence.
Coming into force to limited degree on 6 April 2026
- Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs): harassment and discrimination: meaning of worker – restricts an employer’s ability to use NDAs which could otherwise have prevented workers from reporting harassment and discrimination in the workplace. This will come into force on 6 April only to the extent of providing the Secretary of State (SoS) with regulation making powers. At the time of writing there is no confirmed date for when this will come into full force.
- Dismissal following period of statutory family leave – the Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce new protections against dismissal following a period of family leave, except in as yet to be determined circumstances. This will come into force on 6 April only to the extent of providing SoS with regulation making powers. This is scheduled to come into full force in 2027.
- Dismissal for failing to agree contract variation (fire and rehire) – dismissing an employee for refusing to accept restricted changes to their contract (or ‘fire and rehire’) will be classed as an automatic unfair dismissal, unless the employer can show that the change was being made in order to avert financial difficulties which were likely to affect their ability to carry on the business as a going concern. This will be in force on 6 April only to the extent of providing SoS with regulation making powers. Due to come fully into force in January 2027.
- Equality action plans – employers with 250 or more employees can, on a voluntary basis, produce and publish an action plan alongside their gender pay gap data. In force on 6 April only to the extent of providing SoS with regulation making powers, due to become mandatory in April 2027.
- Social care negotiating bodies – this broadly provides regulation making powers to establish the negotiating body and set out how that will operate, including the introduction of new powers to establish a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) process within the social care sector. At the time of writing there is no firm timeframe on this.
7 April 2026
- Fair Work Agency (FWA) – the FWA will bring together existing state labour market enforcement functions and will become a single port of call where workers and employers can turn for help. These commencement regulations will bring into force further provisions around setting up the FWA as well as its powers.
These provisions are diverse and will be far reaching in terms of the impact they will have on businesses of all sizes, across all industries.