As the government's Employment Rights Bill reaches its final stages in the House of Lords before it returns to the House of Commons for further consideration, the government has released an initial implementation timetable - offering HR professionals and employers a clearer view of when key reforms are likely to take effect.
Published in the Employment Rights Bill's official roadmap document this July, the timetable confirms that the more radical changes proposed last on the agenda will be implemented.
In this article we outline the timeline for the proposed reforms by the Employment Rights Bill and advise next steps for employers, highlighting the key areas to focus on during the implementation phases of the bill.
When can employers expect the changes to take place?
Some of the more significant changes, such as 'day 1' unfair dismissal rights and requirements for predictable hours for zero/low-hours and agency workers, are now expected in 2027, not 2026 as previously thought. This delay gives employers valuable breathing room to contribute to what the detail of these reforms may look like and prepare accordingly.
In contrast, we expect reforms proposed by the Employment Rights Bill relating to trade unions and industrial action to take place either upon Employment Rights Bill being passed or soon thereafter. This will be particularly relevant for employers in public services such as healthcare and education, where strike action may increase.
Below is our table on the key timeframes for implementation. To view a larger version of the table, you can download it here.
The government will continue to consult with employers, workers and trade unions in regard to the Employment Rights Bill and its implementation. Significant consultation is planned to take place in phases from summer/autumn of this year into the next. We anticipate that we will see a more detailed timetable following further consultation taking place.
Next steps for employers
The current timetable gives employers a useful framework to plan ahead. Primarily, this can be used to determine which internal policies need to be earmarked for updating and in what areas training for management and other staff needs to be prioritised. Some of the key areas to focus on now for the implementation phases of Employment Rights Bill include:
1. Industrial action
- Public sector employers should now be ensuring that all policies touching on industrial action are up to date in preparation for the removal of the ability for the secretary of state to create regulations which use minimum service levels as a reason for restricting strike action in certain sectors. As an example, the current status of this legal backdrop may well have an impact on the bargaining power of the British Medical Association in relation to the strikes taking place over pay for resident doctors. Separately, it's possible for doctors to be recalled during a strike in isolated circumstances where emergency care is required, but this will need to be agreed with the British Medical Association. NHS trusts will therefore need to try to prepare, as far as that is possible, for handling the impact on operations and patient care, in light of the fact that the current minimum service levels legislation is not going to be considered to be a realistic threat by staff under the new regime.
- Employers in all sectors should also be taking stock of their policies and considering how these may be impacted by the imminent stripping back of limitations on strike action imposed by the previous government.
2. Statutory Sick Pay
- Plan for the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period by organising training for payroll/management, updating payroll software and updating absence management policies.
- Consider the cost impact on budget forecasts - especially in low-wage sectors like retail and hospitality.
3. Collective redundancies
- Consider the timing of any upcoming redundancies or restructuring to mitigate increased litigation and financial risk related to collective consultation.
- The doubling of the protective award is one of the earliest changes as it's due to take place in 2026. This is going to inevitably make it more expensive for employers to buy their way out of consultation requirements by way of commercial settlement and riskier to try to avoid collective consultation entirely.
- The widening of the scope of circumstances that require collective consultation is not planned to be brought into force until 2027, but the bottom line is that employers who have multiple locations are more likely to have to engage in collective consultation when looking at redundancies. This position should be monitored as we get closer to implementation but employers can begin to consider ensuring all relevant staff are trained on these processes.
4. Fire and rehire
- If you are planning changes to terms and conditions of employment contracts and anticipate that you are likely to face resistance, start the process early - while it's proposed that the obligations here will be less stringent than first envisaged, the process of fire and rehire is expected to be more difficult and closely-scrutinised from October 2026.
- Revising contracts for new starters to include a variation clause which anticipates an incoming change to the business, as specifically as possible, would also be wise.
5. Sexual harassment
- Consider strengthening policies and implementing training to make the transition to the new employer duty to take 'all reasonable steps' to prevent sexual harassment an easier one down the road.
- As per the roadmap, this new duty will come into force in October 2026 but the power for the government to bring into legislation what will be regarded as 'all reasonable steps' does not come into force until 2027. This leaves employers with a period of uncertainty where it's unclear what the appropriate steps are to comply with the new duty.
- Careful consideration will need to be given to how policies are amended and what the content of any training is on this point, to reduce litigation risk where possible.
- Getting this right is particularly important in light of the government’s proposals to render any confidentiality provision in an employment agreement unenforceable, if it prevents the employee from making allegations or disclosures related to all types of harassment or discrimination - not just sexual harassment. While examples of an employment agreement in this context could include an employment contract or settlement agreement, such as a COT3 or pre-termination agreement, there is provision for regulations to be set carving out excepted agreements, for example where requested by the employee. This proposal could lead to further litigation, given that many employers will be reluctant to enter into settlement agreements where they are confident on their position, if they are not assured of confidentiality.
6. Flexible working
- Review how past flexible working requests were handled to consider whether they can be objectively justified - use this to identify whether training or cultural changes are needed for line managers in advance of the new law.
- If one is not already in place, consider implementing a policy now which requires management to provide written reasons for a flexible working request refusal. While, at least initially, it's expected that reasonableness will be a matter of interpretation that is not clearly defined by legislation, you could also consider scenario-based training on what examples of reasonable refusals might look like.
- While employers will still have a broad discretion to refuse flexible working requests based on specific grounds currently set out in legislation, consider establishing a hard line approach to office attendance in advance of 2027 if the aim of the business is to mandate this and/or staff have been resisting returning to work. This means a decision is made before the employment tribunal landscape changes as employees look at testing the boundaries of this new duty on employers to justify their refusals.
7. ‘Day 1’ unfair dismissal rights
- While there is a good chance this is going to be the last on the list to be implemented, consider establishing a practice of using a condensed informal process for dismissing employees that have under two years’ service. This gets management in the practice of following procedure for these types of employees, from an early stage.
Upcoming consultation process
Although there are another eight months until more statutory changes start to come in beyond the initial industrial action related reforms, employers will have the opportunity to feed into the consultation processes in the intervening period.
To begin with, in summer/autumn of this year, employers will be consulted on 'day 1' unfair dismissal rights, changes to fire and rehire restrictions, zero hour contracts/umbrella companies, bereavement leave, pregnancy protections and trade union reforms. Considering at this stage how these changes may impact the business and practical issues that may arise is a great opportunity for employers to constructively contribute to the inner workings of these policy reforms if the opportunity to contribute arises.
We will keep you informed of developments as the government has promised further detail on its proposals following further consultation. We also expect to see codes of practice and guidance from the government and other bodies such as ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, as the Employment Rights Bill implements over time.
For further information, please contact the employment team.
