A Jamie HR manager's guide

The Employment Rights Act 2025: master timeline

A single reference for every Employment Rights Act 2025 change and when it takes effect, from the day-one rights already in force to the changes still to come in 2027. Each topic is covered in full in its own Jamie HR guide; this is the timeline that ties them together.
6 Apr 2026 onwards
1 Jan 2027
2027, dates tbc

The Employment Rights Act 2025 commences in stages, not all at once.

Royal Assent was 18 December 2025. Since then, separate commencement regulations have brought different provisions into force on different dates, and several more are due in 2027 with the exact day still to be confirmed. This guide sets out what has already changed, what is confirmed for 2027, and what remains under consultation, in date order.

What's inside
Already in force: 6 to 7 April 20263
Already in force: 1 October 20264
Already in force: October 2026 harassment duties5
Confirmed: 1 January 20276
Confirmed timetable: spring 20277
Expected in 2027, exact date to be confirmed8
Getting your business ready9
How Jamie HR helps10

Already in force: 6 to 7 April 2026

The first wave of changes took effect together at the start of the 2026/27 tax year.
  • Statutory Sick Pay becomes a day-one right: the three waiting days are removed and the Lower Earnings Limit no longer applies.
  • Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave both become day-one rights, removing the prior service requirements to take the leave.
  • Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave comes into force as a new statutory right.
  • Whistleblowing protection extends to cover sexual harassment as a new category of relevant failure.
  • Employers become able to publish an equality action plan voluntarily, ahead of the duty becoming mandatory.
  • The Fair Work Agency is established, on 7 April 2026, bringing together several existing enforcement functions.

Already in force: 1 October 2026

The standard employment tribunal time limit doubles.
  • The time limit for most tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal, Equality Act 2010 discrimination and unlawful deductions, extends from three months less a day to six months less a day.
  • The change applies where the relevant workplace issue arises on or after 1 October 2026; issues before that date keep the existing three-month limit.
  • Claims already subject to a six-month or longer limit, such as statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, are unaffected.
  • ACAS Early Conciliation continues to pause the clock in the same way as it does now.

Already in force: October 2026 harassment duties

The government's own timeline places these changes in October 2026, without a more precise day confirmed.
  • The existing duty to prevent sexual harassment strengthens from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps.
  • A new duty makes employers liable for third-party harassment of employees relating to any protected characteristic, unless all reasonable steps were taken to prevent it.
  • Regulations setting out what counts as reasonable steps are not expected until 2027/28, after consultation, so the detail of compliance is not yet fixed.
  • As of July 2026, no commencement regulation naming these specific sections had been made; the October 2026 date comes from the government's own published timeline and from ACAS, not yet from a statutory instrument.
Watch out
Start preparing your harassment prevention steps now. The strengthened duty and the October 2026 date are both stated in the government's own timeline, even though the precise commencement day is not yet fixed by regulation.

Confirmed: 1 January 2027

Two related dismissal reforms take effect on the same date, having both been delayed from an original October 2026 target.
  • The unfair dismissal qualifying period reduces from two years to six months, and the qualifying period for written reasons for dismissal reduces on the same timetable.
  • The change applies where the employee's effective date of termination falls on or after 1 January 2027, regardless of when notice was given.
  • Dismissing an employee for refusing a restricted contract variation, such as a cut to pay, pension or hours, becomes automatically unfair, subject to a narrow financial difficulties exception.
  • Dismissing to replace an employee, whether with another employee or a non-employee doing substantially the same work, also becomes automatically unfair.
  • Both dates are confirmed by statutory instrument: the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 for unfair dismissal, and the government's fire and rehire factsheet for the contract variation provisions.
Watch out
1 January 2027 is the most firmly dated change in this timeline. Review probation lengths, contract variation processes and restructuring plans against it now.

Confirmed timetable: spring 2027

Gender pay gap reporting gains a connected duty.
  • Employers with 250 or more employees, already required to report gender pay gap data annually, gain a duty to publish an equality action plan.
  • The government's own guidance sets the mandatory duty to take effect from spring 2027, subject to legislation.
  • For the 2026 to 2027 reporting year, the government has published a publication deadline of 4 April 2027 for most employers and 30 March 2027 for most public authority employers, aligning with the existing gender pay gap reporting deadlines.
  • No commencement regulation bringing the mandatory duty into force had been made as of the date this guide was checked; the spring 2027 timetable is the government's own published plan, not yet a commenced legal requirement.

Expected in 2027, exact date to be confirmed

Five further changes are provided for in the Act but do not yet have a commencement date.
  • A reasonableness test on refusing a flexible working request, plus a duty to explain the ground for refusal in the refusal notification.
  • A new general Bereavement Leave right, sitting alongside the Parental Bereavement Leave and Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave rights already in force.
  • A right to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, and payment for cancelled, moved or curtailed shifts for zero-hours and low-hours workers; a related consultation closes 25 August 2026.
  • A restriction on confidentiality clauses that prevent a worker disclosing information about harassment or discrimination, whether in a contract or a settlement agreement.
  • Regulation of umbrella companies as employment businesses, extending protections already given to agency workers; the government's own factsheet describes this as expected to take effect in 2027 without giving an exact date.
Watch out
None of these five changes is commenced yet. Do not build a compliance deadline around an assumed date; each guide in this series states plainly what is confirmed and what is not.

Getting your business ready

Practical steps to take now, in date order of the changes they prepare for.
  • Update SSP, paternity and parental leave, and whistleblowing policies to reflect the day-one rights already in force since 6 April 2026.
  • Review your harassment prevention steps, complaint handling and third-party harassment exposure ahead of the October 2026 strengthened duty.
  • Review probation lengths, dismissal processes and contract variation practices ahead of the 1 January 2027 unfair dismissal and fire and rehire changes.
  • If your business has 250 or more employees, begin preparing gender pay gap data and action plan content ahead of the spring 2027 deadline.
  • For the remaining 2027 changes, read the relevant guide in this series, keep watching for the commencement date, and avoid committing to a fixed date in your own policies until one is confirmed.

How Jamie HR helps

Jamie HR tracks every Employment Rights Act 2025 date against your policies, in one place.
  • Compliance timeline that flags each commencement date as it is confirmed.
  • Policy library updated as each change takes effect, so your documents stay current.
  • Guide library covering every topic in this timeline in full, from SSP to umbrella companies.
  • Audit trail of when your policies were last reviewed against the Act.
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This guide is general information, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of 2026, and is not legal advice. Employment law changes and every situation is different, so for a specific case take professional HR or legal advice. Sources: ACAS, gov.uk, legislation.gov.uk and the Employment Rights Act 2025.