The Employment Rights Act 2025: what's changed, and what's coming

The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law on 18 December 2025, but most of it does not switch on at once. The government is bringing it in stage by stage through commencement regulations, and some of the best-known changes, such as unfair dismissal protection after six months, are not law yet. So the honest answer to “what are my rights now?” depends on the date, and sometimes on the date your problem happened.

As at 2 October 2026, the main changes already in force are: Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave from day one of a job, a longer maximum protective award in collective redundancies, whistleblowing protection for reports of sexual harassment, and six-month time limits for most employment tribunal claims about events on or after 1 October 2026. The next big dates are 30 October 2026 (stronger sexual harassment duties) and 1 January 2027 (unfair dismissal after six months, and no cap on the compensatory award). This page covers Great Britain; Northern Ireland has its own employment law.

What is already in force on 2 October 2026

Date	Change	What it means for you
18 February 2026	Protection against dismissal for taking industrial action strengthened; most of the Trade Union Act 2016 repealed	Mainly affects union members and strike action
18 February 2026	Employees newly eligible for day-one paternity and parental leave could give notice	Lets you book leave starting from April
6 April 2026	SSP waiting days and lower earnings limit removed	SSP from your first day off sick, including if you are low paid
6 April 2026	Day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave	No minimum service needed to take the leave
6 April 2026	Maximum protective award doubled from 90 to 180 days	Bigger award if an employer fails to consult on collective redundancies
6 April 2026	Sexual harassment added to whistleblowing law	Reporting sexual harassment can be a protected disclosure
6 April 2026	Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave	Up to 52 weeks’ paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies in the child’s first year
7 April 2026	Fair Work Agency set up	A new enforcement body for issues such as minimum wage and agency problems
1 October 2026	Tribunal time limits increased from three to six months	Applies to events on or after 1 October 2026

Statutory Sick Pay from day one

Since 6 April 2026, the three unpaid “waiting days” have gone and so has the lower earnings limit that used to shut out people on low pay. GOV.UK now says you can get £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks, for all the days you are off sick that you would normally have worked. You need to be an employee and have done some work for your employer. See our guide to sick pay.

Day-one paternity and parental leave

Paternity leave (up to two weeks) and unpaid parental leave no longer need a minimum period of service. Note the difference between leave and pay: GOV.UK says Statutory Paternity Pay still needs 26 weeks’ continuous employment by the qualifying week and average earnings of at least £129 a week. See our family leave guide.

Six-month tribunal time limits

Section 152 of the Act and its Schedule 12 came into force on 1 October 2026. The unfair dismissal deadline now reads “six months beginning with the effective date of termination”, and the discrimination deadline is “6 months starting with the date of the act”.

The catch is the transitional rule. The longer limit applies only where the “relevant date” is on or after 1 October 2026. For unfair dismissal, that is the date your employment ended. For discrimination, it is the date of the act, or the end of conduct that went on over a period. If your relevant date was on or before 30 September 2026, the old three-month limit still applies, which in practice means three months less a day.

Two further points:

• Contract claims in the tribunal. For England and Wales the six-month limit applies where employment ended on or after 1 October 2026. For Scotland, the government’s timeline says the change for breach of contract claims takes effect on 9 November 2026.
• Acas early conciliation still comes first. You normally have to notify Acas before claiming, and the clock pauses while conciliation runs. See Acas early conciliation and the employment tribunal guide.

Some official pages still mentioned “3 months minus 1 day” on 2 October 2026. That is correct only for older cases.

What is scheduled, and when

The government says all future dates “remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change”. Only the January 2027 unfair dismissal change has commencement regulations already made.

Expected date	Change	Status on 2 October 2026
30 October 2026	Employers must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, and must not permit third-party harassment of employees	Government timeline
30 October 2026	Trade union access, recognition and rep protections	Government timeline
December 2026	Seafarer protection regulations	Government timeline
By end of 2026	Tipping law strengthened	Government timeline
1 January 2027	Unfair dismissal qualifying period cut from two years to six months; compensatory award cap removed	Commencement regulations made (SI 2026/559)
January 2027	Fire and rehire protections; duty to tell workers of their right to join a union	Government timeline
2027	Guaranteed hours, shift notice and cancellation pay; flexible working changes; bereavement leave including pregnancy loss; stronger dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers; collective redundancy threshold; NDA rules for harassment and discrimination; umbrella company regulation; mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans	Government timeline, some subject to consultation

Unfair dismissal after six months, from 1 January 2027

Today, you usually need two years’ continuous employment to claim ordinary unfair dismissal. Section 25 of the 2025 Act replaces “two years” with “six months” and removes the section that caps the compensatory award. The commencement regulations bring this in on 1 January 2027 and say it applies where the effective date of termination is on or after that date, even if the dismissal was before it. If your employment ends before 1 January 2027, the old rules apply.

For now, the compensatory award for unfair dismissal is capped at the lower of £123,543 or 52 weeks’ pay, for dismissals on or after 6 April 2026. There is no cap where the dismissal was for whistleblowing or health and safety reasons. See unfair dismissal.

Stronger sexual harassment duty, from 30 October 2026

Since October 2024, the Equality Act has required employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. If a tribunal finds sexual harassment and also finds the employer breached this duty, it can increase compensation by up to 25%. Section 20 of the 2025 Act inserts the word “all” before “reasonable steps”. The government’s timeline says this, and a new duty not to permit harassment by third parties such as customers or clients, take effect on 30 October 2026. See sexual harassment at work.

How to tell which rule applies to you

1. Find the date that counts. For dismissal, it is usually the last day of your notice period, or the day you were dismissed if you were not given notice. For other claims, it is the date of the act or failure, or the last one in a series.
2. Check it against the commencement date. Is your date before or after 1 October 2026 (time limits) or 1 January 2027 (unfair dismissal qualifying period and cap)?
3. Count your service carefully. Statutory notice can sometimes extend your period of employment, so a solicitor can check how the dates work in your case.

What to check in your contract or letter

• Your start date and the date employment ends (or is proposed to end), which decide your service and which time limit applies.
• Notice clause and any payment in lieu of notice (PILON) clause, which affect the effective date of termination.
• Probation clause, especially its length and what it says about notice, given the six-month qualifying period from January 2027.
• Contractual sick pay, and whether it is paid instead of or on top of SSP, and from which day.
• Family leave and pay policy, including any enhanced paternity or parental pay and any service conditions.
• Variation or “flexibility” clauses that let the employer change terms, relevant to fire and rehire disputes.
• Harassment, grievance and whistleblowing policies, including who you report to and how.
• Confidentiality clauses in contracts or settlement agreements, which cannot stop a protected whistleblowing disclosure.

When it helps to speak to a solicitor

The transitional rules can turn on a single day. If your employment ended, or the problem happened, close to 1 October 2026 or 1 January 2027, or you are unsure whether you have two years’ service, it can help to get advice before a deadline passes. A solicitor can work out your dates, the time limit that applies and what you could claim. EmployedRight’s free document check can help you find the dates and clauses above first.

Common questions

Do I get unfair dismissal rights after six months now?

Not yet. On 2 October 2026 you usually still need two years' continuous employment to claim ordinary unfair dismissal. Commencement regulations cut this to six months, and remove the cap on the compensatory award, from 1 January 2027. The new rules apply where your effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027, even if you were given notice before then. Some dismissals, such as for whistleblowing, never needed two years.

Is the employment tribunal time limit now six months?

For most claims, yes, if the thing you are complaining about happened on or after 1 October 2026. For unfair dismissal, that means your employment ended on or after that date. If the dismissal or act happened before 1 October 2026, the old limit of three months (less a day in practice) still applies. Breach of contract claims in the tribunal in Scotland switch on 9 November 2026.

When do I get Statutory Sick Pay from day one?

Since 6 April 2026. The three unpaid waiting days and the lower earnings limit were removed, so SSP is paid from the first day you are off sick, if you are an employee and have done some work for your employer. You get £123.25 a week or 80% of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. Your contract may give you more.

When does the stronger sexual harassment duty start?

The government's timeline says 30 October 2026. From then, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, rather than reasonable steps, and must not permit harassment of employees by third parties such as customers. The existing duty has applied since October 2024, and a tribunal can already increase sexual harassment compensation by up to 25% if an employer breaches it.

What about fire and rehire and guaranteed hours?

Neither is in force on 2 October 2026. The government's timeline puts fire and rehire protections in January 2027. The right to guaranteed hours and to reasonable notice of shifts, with payments for short-notice cancellation, is listed for 2027, with timing to be updated after consultation. Until those dates, the existing law on changing contracts and on zero-hours work applies.

Does the Employment Rights Act 2025 apply in Scotland?

Yes. Most of the employment rights in the Act apply across Great Britain, which includes Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own employment law and its own statutory sick pay provisions, and this page does not cover it. The one Scottish quirk to note is the later date, 9 November 2026, for the six-month limit on breach of contract claims in the tribunal.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act timeline update (updated 25 September 2026) checked Fri Oct 02
2. Employment Rights Act 2025 (contents) checked Fri Oct 02
3. Employment Rights Act 2025, section 25 (unfair dismissal qualifying period and compensation) checked Fri Oct 02
4. Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/559 checked Fri Oct 02
5. Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/954 checked Fri Oct 02
6. Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/758 checked Fri Oct 02
7. Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) (Amendment) Order 2026, SI 2026/759 checked Fri Oct 02
8. Employment Rights Act 1996, section 108 (qualifying period) checked Fri Oct 02
9. Employment Rights Act 1996, section 124 (limit of compensatory award) checked Fri Oct 02
10. Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026, SI 2026/310 checked Fri Oct 02
11. Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, section 189 (protective award) checked Fri Oct 02
12. Equality Act 2010, section 40A (duty to prevent sexual harassment) checked Fri Oct 02
13. Equality Act 2010, section 124A (compensation uplift in sexual harassment cases) checked Fri Oct 02
14. Employment Rights Act 1996, section 43B (qualifying disclosures) checked Fri Oct 02
15. Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (commencement, section 3) checked Fri Oct 02
16. Acas: Unfair dismissal checked Fri Oct 02
17. Acas: How early conciliation works checked Fri Oct 02
18. Citizens Advice: Claiming constructive dismissal (time limits from 1 October 2026; service includes statutory notice) checked Fri Oct 02
19. GOV.UK: Statutory Sick Pay checked Fri Oct 02
20. GOV.UK: Paternity pay and leave checked Fri Oct 02
21. GOV.UK: Make a claim to an employment tribunal checked Fri Oct 02
22. GOV.UK: Contact the Fair Work Agency checked Fri Oct 02

This guide is general information about employment law in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). Northern Ireland has its own employment law. It isn't legal advice and doesn't take your circumstances into account.