What's Coming in UK Employment Law: Your Timeline to 2027
The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law in December 2025, and it's being rolled out in stages rather than all at once. Some changes are already here. Since April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay applies from day one, paternity and unpaid parental leave are day-one rights, the maximum protective award for failing to consult on collective redundancies has doubled to 180 days, and sexual harassment now counts as a whistleblowing disclosure.
The bigger shifts are still ahead. Here's what's coming, in the order it lands, and what it means in practice.
1 October 2026: Tribunal time limits double
The time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims increases from three months to six (for breach of contract claims in Scotland, the change follows on 9 November). Disputes will stay live for longer, so the paper trail matters more than ever.
What to do: review how long you keep investigation notes, grievance records and emails, and make sure managers document decisions as they make them, not afterwards.
30 October 2026: Harassment duties get tougher, and union rights expand
Employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment since October 2024. From 30 October, that becomes all reasonable steps. One extra word, but a real shift: the question is no longer whether you did something sensible, but whether there was anything more you reasonably could have done. Employers also become liable for harassment of their staff by third parties, such as clients, customers and contractors.
The same date brings a package of trade union measures, including a new duty to tell workers they have the right to join a union, stronger rights for unions to access workplaces, and extra protections for union representatives.
What to do: a policy on its own won't be enough. Refresh your harassment risk assessment, train managers, think about client-facing roles, and add the union statement to your onboarding documents.
1 January 2027: The big one for unfair dismissal
The qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection drops from two years to six months, and the cap on compensation is removed. It applies to dismissals taking effect on or after 1 January 2027, which means anyone who joined from around the end of June 2026 will already be protected on day one of the new rules. Restrictions on fire and rehire also arrive in January 2027: dismissing someone to force through certain contract changes will become automatically unfair, with only narrow exceptions for serious financial difficulty.
What to do: make probation periods count, with clear objectives, regular reviews and decisions made on time. Check that managers know how to handle performance conversations properly, and look again at any planned changes to terms and conditions.
April 2027: Equality action plans become mandatory
Employers with 250 or more staff have been able to publish gender equality and menopause action plans voluntarily since April 2026. From 2027 they become a requirement, alongside gender pay gap reporting. April will also bring the usual annual rate changes, including National Minimum Wage and statutory pay.
Later in 2027: The next wave (dates to be confirmed)
Stronger dismissal protection for pregnant employees and those returning from maternity leave
A new right to bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss
Flexible working: refusals will need to be on a statutory ground and genuinely reasonable
Guaranteed hours, shift notice and pay for cancelled shifts for zero-hours and low-hours workers
Collective redundancy thresholds counted across the whole organisation, not site by site
Limits on NDAs that stop people speaking about harassment or discrimination
The EngageTalent take
The common thread is evidence. Longer claim windows, a higher bar on harassment and six-month unfair dismissal rights all come back to one question: can you show what you did, and why? Businesses that get their records, probation process and manager capability in shape now will feel very little of this. Those that wait until January will feel all of it.
Dates are based on the Government's latest implementation timeline and may still move, particularly for the 2027 measures. This article is general guidance, not legal advice.
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