Rated 5 / 5 based on Google Reviews

New Employment Rights Bill

Ensure business compliance

In October 2024 the government passed the new Employment Rights Bill to parliament for consultation in an aim to tackle poor working conditions and to promote economic growth. The majority of the reforms are unlikely to take effect until 2026 but once implemented the legislation will make significant changes to UK employment law that employers should begin preparing for now.

Adopting a proactive approach, such as training managers and ensuring your policies and procedures are fit for purpose, can help you avoid costly issues and save valuable time in the long term.

We are here to help you check you are complaint in all areas, by reviewing your current policies and procedures to minimise the impact of the changes once they come in.

Download your ERB compliance checklist

Where to start – complete your ERB compliance checklist

Our step-by-step compliance checklist ensures you won’t miss any critical ERB requirements. Each section outlines key obligations along with their priority levels, making it easy to assess where your business stands and identify exactly what actions you need to take. We’re offering a complimentary 30 minute consultation to discuss your answers and any actions you wish to take as a result of completing this checklist.

Download and complete your ERB checklist and then email it or call our team for your individual FREE 30 minute consultation

info@realityhr.co.uk

01256 328 428

Essential Employment Rights Act 2025: What every employer needs to know

Date: Wednesday 28th January 2026

Time: 11am – 12pm

Location: Online, Microsoft Teams

Price: FREE

January 28th

The Employment Rights Bill has just received Royal Assent and will become the Employment Rights Act 2025 – the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in over a decade. As we enter 2026, employers face a complex landscape of phased implementation that will fundamentally change how businesses manage their workforce.

Why this webinar is critical for your business:

From April 2026 onwards, sweeping changes will begin rolling out across 2026 and 2027, affecting every aspect of employment from day one rights to dismissal procedures. Whether you employ five people or five hundred, these reforms will impact your policies, contracts, costs, and risk exposure.

Who should attend:

  • Business owners, partners, and directors
  • HR professionals
  • Line managers with hiring/dismissal responsibilities

Why attend:

We’ll break down the complex legislation into practical steps you can take, covering:

  • Unfair dismissal
  • Day one rights
  • Zero-hours contracts
  • Statutory sick pay
  • Flexible working
  • Fire and rehire
  • Harassment prevention
  • Trade union access

You’ll leave with clear priorities for reviewing your contracts and policies, and risk management strategies to protect your business from costly tribunal claims.

Have questions?

Submit your questions in advance, before 22nd January, when you register, and we’ll make sure to address them during the webinar. This ensures we cover the issues that matter most to you and your business. (If you submit your questions after the deadline, we will contact you with answers after the event).

Don’t wait until changes take effect, start 2026 prepared. Register today to secure your place.

Find out more & book your place

Planned changes to the New Employment Rights Bill:

Removes the two-year service requirement for unfair dismissal claims, meaning employees can bring a claim from their first day. A proposed statutory probation period which is likely to be around nine months will apply, permitting a lighter-touch dismissal process during that time. Ensure you have an effective system for probation reviews in place, which are used consistently and fairly.

Eliminates the lower earnings limit and waiting days, ensuring employees are eligible for SSP from their first day of sickness. SSP will be the lower of 80% of normal weekly earnings or the flat rate (£118.75 from April 2025). Prepare for increases to your sick pay costs, and consider implementing a robust attendance management process, to ensure that all absences are recorded accurately.

The anticipated change with remove all qualifying periods for parental and paternity leave so these rights apply from day one. It will expand bereavement leave to cover pre‑24‑week pregnancy losses and provides extended protection for pregnant employees, including dismissal protection up to six months after maternity leave.

The proposed ERB changes will build on existing rights to request flexible working from day one of employment, making all jobs flexible by default, unless employers can objectively and reasonably show otherwise.

Establishes a new enforcement body to oversee minimum wage, SSP, holiday pay, employment agency standards, and more. The Agency will possess expanded inspection powers, even allowing entry to private premises with warrants, aimed at improving compliance.

Extends the deadline to bring most employment claims from three months to six months, giving employees more time to file grievances or negotiate internally. It will be important to ensure you have up to effective document storage and retention policies in place.

In October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into effect, placing a legal duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees during the course of their work. See our Dignity at Work checklist.

Raises the duty on employers to take all reasonable steps (not just reasonable steps) to prevent harassment, including from clients, customers or third parties, across all protected characteristics. See our Dignity at Work checklist, but also be prepared for more work needed on policies and training.

Lowers the recognition threshold (formally between 2–10%) and removes the requirement for majority support before an application to the CAC. Ballots only require a simple majority, easing union access to formal bargaining and simplifying industrial action rules.

New requirements will likely apply to collective redundancy situations, defined as cases where 20 or more employees face redundancy within 90 days.

New rules require you to offer guaranteed hours to zero-hours workers based on their typical work patterns. This covers agency workers too. When you need to change or cancel shifts, you must give reasonable notice or provide compensation. You can only opt out of these requirements through a collective agreement with your workforce.

Download Your ERB Checklist

Download your ERB checklist for your FREE 30 minute consultation





    Once you have emailed the completed form back to us someone will get back you as soon as possible to discuss your options further.

    You may also be interested in

    Learn about how we work with our clients

    HOW WE WORK

    Meet our team

    OUR TEAM

    Find out what our clients say about working with us

    READ CASE STUDIES