The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 (chapter 36). It is being switched on in phases, and the Government's published timeline uses two common commencement dates each year, 6 April and 1 October, plus a handful of fixed dates for the biggest measures. Below is the position as published by GOV.UK on 25 September 2026 and by Acas on 1 October 2026. Everything in this briefing is drawn from those official pages and the legislation itself; the full list of sources is in the References section, so you can check any point against the original before you change a policy.
The timeline at a glance
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 6 April 2026 | Statutory sick pay from day one, lower earnings limit removed. Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave become day one rights. Maximum protective award for failing to consult collectively on redundancy rises to 180 days' pay. Sexual harassment disclosures qualify for whistleblowing protection. |
| 7 April 2026 | The Fair Work Agency is established, bringing together the existing state enforcement bodies. |
| 1 October 2026 | Time limits for most employment tribunal claims increase from three months to six months. |
| 30 October 2026 | Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and must not permit harassment of their staff by third parties. |
| 1 January 2027 | Unfair dismissal protection after six months' service and the compensation cap removed. Dismissal and re-engagement (fire and rehire) becomes an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases (January 2027). |
| 2027, dates to follow consultation | Guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and payment for cancelled or shortened shifts. Statutory bereavement leave. Collective redundancy counted across the whole organisation. Refusals of flexible working must state the business reason and why it is reasonable. |
The Acas summary also records that from 6 April 2026 employers must keep holiday records for at least six years, and that electronic balloting for trade unions arrived on 25 August 2026. Those are outside the scope of this briefing but belong on the same HR calendar.
1. Statutory sick pay: the waiting days have gone
Three things changed on 6 April 2026. In the words of Acas, "statutory sick pay is payable from the first day of sickness, removing the 3 'waiting days'". The lower earnings limit was removed, so part-time and lower paid staff who previously received nothing now qualify. And the amount is now the lower of two figures: GOV.UK states that employees get "£123.25 a week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or 80% of your normal weekly earnings - whichever is lower", worked out from average weekly earnings over an eight week period, for up to 28 weeks.
The employer rules on evidence have not changed. An employee should tell you they are sick within the time limit you set, or within seven days if you have none, and you cannot insist on a particular form or method. You can only ask for a fit note after more than seven days in a row off work, and GOV.UK is explicit that "you cannot withhold SSP if the employee is late sending you a fit note". A fit note can now come from a GP or hospital doctor, a registered nurse, an occupational therapist, a pharmacist or a physiotherapist, and can be printed or digital.
2. Absence management after day one sick pay
With no waiting days, the cost of a single day's absence is now a payroll event, and a pattern of odd days is easier for an employee to claim and harder for a manager to ignore. Acas's absence guidance says a policy helps "everyone understand their responsibilities" and supports employers "to manage absence consistently". The policy should cover how planned absence is booked, how unplanned absence is reported, what counts as unauthorised absence, how you keep in touch during absence, what support is offered, disability-related absence and reasonable adjustments, return to work arrangements and what is paid. Statutory sick pay, fit notes and time off for dependants are legal requirements and cannot be written down by policy.
Three practical points follow from the sources:
- Return to work conversations are the control, not the fit note. You cannot ask for a fit note in the first seven days, so a short, consistent return to work conversation after every absence is the only routine record of cause and pattern you will have.
- Trigger points must be applied fairly. Acas lists absence trigger points as part of a policy. If you use them, apply them to everyone, and adjust them where absence is disability related, because the duty to make reasonable adjustments is a legal requirement rather than a policy choice.
- Share the policy with the whole organisation and train the managers. Acas says employers must "share absence policies with the whole organisation, make policies clear and easy to follow", and train the people who apply them. A policy that only HR has read will not stand up at a hearing.
3. Performance, conduct and dismissals: six months, not two years
Today, Acas states that "it might be unfair dismissal if an employee worked for their employer for at least 2 years". From 1 January 2027 that becomes six months: the GOV.UK timeline lists the "reduction of unfair dismissal qualifying period to 6 months" together with "uncapping compensatory awards". Two other changes sit alongside it. Since 1 October 2026 the time limit for bringing most tribunal claims is six months rather than three, so a dismissal in the autumn can still be challenged in the spring. And from January 2027 dismissing staff in order to re-engage them on worse terms "will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases".
The practical consequence is that every dismissal of an employee with more than six months' service will need a fair reason and a fair procedure, and the procedure that will be measured against is the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Acas describes the Code as "the minimum an employer should follow", and warns that "the procedure an employer follows and an employee's actions will be taken into account if the case reaches an employment tribunal".
What a fair conduct or capability process looks like
- Separate the two reasons. Acas defines misconduct as "when the employee has done something that's inappropriate or not acceptable" and capability as "when the employee is not able to do the job or does not have the right qualifications". They need different evidence and different conversations; a performance problem handled as a disciplinary rarely survives scrutiny.
- Investigate before you decide. The Acas step by step guide runs: understand the options, follow a fair procedure, carry out an investigation, hold the hearing, decide the outcome, and deal with what comes after. Gross misconduct, in Acas's examples, includes fraud, physical violence, gross negligence and serious insubordination, but even then the procedure is the same.
- Suspend only to protect the investigation. Acas says you "should only consider suspension if you reasonably believe it would protect" the investigation, the business or the people involved, and suggests alternatives first: a change of shift, a different part of the organisation, working from home or stopping particular duties.
- Right to be accompanied, and a right of appeal. The statutory right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing by a colleague or a trade union representative is in section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. Acas adds that "being able to appeal a dismissal is also part of the Acas Code of Practice".
- Probation is now a process, not a date. With a six month qualifying period, a probation review that slips to month seven is a dismissal with full protection. Put the review in the diary at week eight and month five, and record what was said.
4. The Fair Work Agency: enforcement comes to you
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) was established on 7 April 2026 as an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade. The Department's factsheet explains that it brings together the functions of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and HMRC's National Minimum Wage unit, and that holiday pay and statutory sick pay enforcement "will be implemented in later stages". Its stated aim is to "resolve issues upstream by supporting employers that want to comply with the law", but it also has, in the Department's words, "strong powers to investigate and take action against businesses that flout the law".
Those powers, as listed in the factsheet, are:
- Inspection: "powers to inspect workplaces and require employers to produce relevant documents and evidence to demonstrate compliance with employment law".
- Notices of underpayment: a civil penalty regime based on the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, under which officers can require the employer to pay workers what they are owed "and pay a penalty to government".
- Tribunal proceedings: "the power to bring proceedings in the employment tribunal on a worker's behalf", and to offer legal advice and assistance.
- Undertakings and orders: voluntary Labour Market Enforcement Undertakings and compulsory Orders, breach of which "is an offence that can result in fines or imprisonment".
- Cost recovery: regulations may allow the FWA to recover its enforcement costs from non-compliant employers.
The agency is already active. Its GOV.UK page records that on 3 September 2026 nearly 660 employers were named for failing to pay the minimum wage. The Department's own factsheet cites the Low Pay Commission's estimate that 19.4% of workers paid at or around the wage floor were underpaid in 2024, around 371,000 jobs. For an HR manager the message is simple: pay records, holiday records (now kept for six years) and sick pay records are no longer only a defence against an individual claim. They are what an inspector will ask to see.
5. AI-assisted grievances and disputes
HR teams are now receiving grievances, appeals and tribunal correspondence drafted with the help of generative AI: longer, more formal, and sometimes citing law that does not quite say what the letter claims. Acas has recognised the issue. Its consultation on the updated Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, which ran from 30 July to 23 September 2026, asked directly: "Are there issues arising from the use of AI in disciplinary and grievance processes that Acas should address in the Code or associated non-statutory guidance?" Acas is now reviewing the responses before the revised Code goes to the Secretary of State for parliamentary approval.
Until the new Code lands, the existing guidance is enough to work with:
- An AI-written grievance is still a grievance. The Acas Code requires employers to "make clear they'll deal with grievances fairly and consistently" and to "take actions and make decisions as soon as they can". Respond to the substance, not the style. Acas also says it is "usually a good idea" for employees to raise a problem informally first, and the draft Code goes further by expecting employers to record attempts at informal resolution before a formal meeting.
- Check every legal claim in the letter against the source. Acas's own advice on AI is that "AI is not perfect, so outputs should be checked for accuracy, tone and bias". That applies to what you receive as much as what you write. The References below are the pages to check against.
- Set the rules for your own use. Acas says employers "should develop clear policies regarding the use of AI at work and should consult workers and any representatives on its introduction", that "AI should be cited when used", and that data privacy policies apply, so employee names, health information and grievance detail should never go into a public AI tool. If a manager uses an approved tool to summarise an investigation, say so in the file, and make sure a person reads the evidence and takes the decision.
- Early resolution is cheaper, and Acas says so. The foreword to the draft Code puts the cost of informal resolution at ten times lower than formal procedures. Mediation, a conversation and a written note will resolve more AI-drafted complaints than a seven page response ever will.
6. Zero hours, redundancies and parental rights
Zero-hours and low-hours contracts
The right to guaranteed hours, to reasonable notice of shifts and to payment when a shift is cancelled, shortened or moved is now scheduled for 2027, with timings "to be updated after consultation" according to the GOV.UK timeline. The existing Acas guidance already bans exclusivity clauses and confirms zero-hours workers' rights to holiday, holiday pay and the minimum wage. Our earlier briefing, Zero-hours contracts: what the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes, sets out the three new rights in detail and what to prepare.
Redundancies
Collective consultation thresholds are unchanged for now: Acas states that for "20 to 99 redundancies" consultation must start "at least 30 days before the proposed date of any redundancy", and for "100 or more redundancies" at least 45 days before, and that "you must not decide on any redundancies before holding collective consultation". The penalty has doubled: "From 6 April 2026, you could be ordered to pay a 'protective award' as compensation for up to 180 days' pay for each affected employee." In 2027 the count will be made across the whole organisation rather than one workplace, which will bring multi-site security and facilities contractors into collective consultation far more often. Before any redundancy, Acas expects alternatives to be considered: voluntary redundancy, changed hours, redeployment, releasing temporary workers, limiting overtime and freezing recruitment.
Parental and family rights
Since 6 April 2026 "employees will be eligible for paternity leave from the first day of employment" and "ordinary unpaid parental leave will also become a day one right", in Acas's words. The restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave has been removed, and bereaved fathers and partners can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid bereaved partner's paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies. A new unpaid statutory bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss, is scheduled for 2027, as are strengthened protections against dismissal during and after maternity leave. From 30 October 2026 the duty to prevent sexual harassment becomes a duty to take all reasonable steps, and extends to harassment by customers, clients and other third parties.
Ten actions before the end of 2026
- Re-run sick pay eligibility.Everyone on payroll now qualifies from day one, with no lower earnings limit. Check payroll applies the lower of £123.25 or 80% of average weekly earnings.
- Rewrite the absence policy and share it with everyone.Reporting rules, seven day self-certification, fit note rules, keeping in touch, return to work, trigger points, disability adjustments and pay.
- Make return to work conversations routine.After every absence, recorded the same way by every manager. It is your only evidence in the first seven days.
- Put probation reviews in the diary at week eight and month five.From 1 January 2027 anyone with six months' service has full unfair dismissal protection.
- Audit live disciplinary and capability cases against the Acas Code.Investigation, written invitation, right to be accompanied, decision in writing, right of appeal.
- Stop any fire and rehire plans now.From January 2027 it is automatically unfair in most cases. Negotiate changes instead and record the consultation.
- Check what an inspector would ask for.Pay records, working time, holiday records kept six years, sick pay calculations, agency and umbrella arrangements, right to work.
- Write an AI at work policy.Approved tools, no personal data in public tools, outputs checked and cited, a person takes every decision. Consult staff before you issue it.
- Update family leave policies.Paternity and unpaid parental leave from day one, bereaved partner's leave, and the 30 October harassment duty including third parties.
- Train the managers who will carry this.Acas expects it in every section above. Record the training on your matrix so you can evidence it.
Train the managers who will carry this
Every section of the Acas guidance above ends the same way: train the managers. This briefing has a companion course, Employment Rights Act 2025 for Managers: Sick Pay, Absence, Conduct and Fair Process: ten modules, around two and a half hours, built from the same GOV.UK and Acas sources, with branching conversations, a disciplinary simulator, a 25 question assessment drawn from a 60 question bank, an 80 per cent pass mark and a QR-verifiable certificate recorded on your training matrix. The shorter courses below cover the individual themes.
| Briefing theme | Induction Portal course | Length |
|---|---|---|
| The whole briefing, for line managers | Employment Rights Act 2025 for Managers: Sick Pay, Absence, Conduct and Fair Process | 2.5 hours |
| Capability, probation and fair process | Performance Management (UK) | 45 minutes |
| Grievances, bullying and dignity at work | Bullying, Harassment & Dignity at Work | 60 minutes |
| The 30 October harassment duty | Sexual Harassment: The Duty on Line Managers | 45 minutes |
| Fair decisions in investigations | Unconscious Bias & Fair Decision-Making | 90 minutes |
| Employee data and AI tools | GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation | 45 minutes |
| Absence, stress and wellbeing | Workplace Stress & Wellbeing | 35 minutes |
| Raising concerns safely | Whistleblowing & PIDA 1998 | 45 minutes |
| Equality and reasonable adjustments | Equality, Diversity & Inclusion | 45 minutes |
References
Every statement in this briefing is drawn from the official sources below. Quotations are reproduced exactly as published on the date of this briefing.
- UK Parliament, Employment Rights Act 2025 (2025 c. 36), Royal Assent 18 December 2025. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36/contents
- Department for Business and Trade, Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update (updated 25 September 2026). gov.uk/government/publications/implementing-the-plan-to-make-work-pay-and-employment-rights-act
- Department for Business and Trade, Employment Rights Act 2025: overview factsheet. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (PDF)
- Department for Business and Trade, Factsheet: The Fair Work Agency. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk (PDF)
- Fair Work Agency, organisation page and contact details, including the 3 September 2026 minimum wage naming round. gov.uk/government/organisations/fair-work-agency
- Fair Work Agency, Enforcement policy statement (7 April 2026, updated 26 August 2026). gov.uk/government/publications/fair-work-agency-enforcement-policy-statement
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/3. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/3
- GOV.UK, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): what you'll get (weekly rate, 80% rule, 28 weeks). gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/what-youll-get
- GOV.UK, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): employer guide, including Notice and fit notes. gov.uk/employers-sick-pay and gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/notice-and-fit-notes
- Acas, Statutory sick pay changes from 6 April 2026. acas.org.uk/statutory-sick-pay-changes-2026
- Acas, Employment Rights Act 2025: what's changing and when (last reviewed 1 October 2026). acas.org.uk/employment-rights-act-2025
- Acas, Absence from work: creating absence policies. acas.org.uk/absence-from-work
- Acas, Unfair dismissal. acas.org.uk/dismissals/unfair-dismissal
- Acas, Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures
- Acas, Consultation: draft updated Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures (30 July to 23 September 2026). acas.org.uk/about-us/acas-consultations/code-of-practice-disciplinary-grievance-2026
- Acas, Disciplinary procedure: step by step. acas.org.uk/disciplinary-procedure-step-by-step
- Acas, Suspension during an investigation. acas.org.uk/suspension-during-an-investigation
- Acas, Grievance procedure: step by step. acas.org.uk/grievance-procedure-step-by-step
- Employment Relations Act 1999, section 10, right to be accompanied. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/26/section/10
- Acas, One third of employers think AI will increase productivity, with Acas's tips on AI at work. acas.org.uk/one-third-of-employers-think-ai-will-increase-productivity
- Acas, Zero-hours contracts. acas.org.uk/zero-hours-contracts
- Acas, Managing a redundancy process. acas.org.uk/manage-staff-redundancies
- Acas, Collective consultation for redundancy: when to begin. acas.org.uk/collective-consultation-redundancy/when-to-begin-collective-consultation
- Acas, Acas calls on employers not to get left behind on changes to paternity leave (2 April 2026). acas.org.uk/acas-calls-on-employers-not-to-get-left-behind-on-changes-to-paternity-leave
This briefing is general information for employers, not legal advice. Commencement dates for the 2027 measures are those published by the Department for Business and Trade and may move after consultation; check the GOV.UK timeline before acting on any of them.