The Employment Rights Act: What Does It Actually Mean for HR?
Moving beyond the headlines and looking at what HR teams actually need to do.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is one of the most significant changes to UK employment law in recent years.
Since becoming law on 18 December 2025, changes have been introduced — and will continue to be introduced — throughout 2026 and 2027. Some changes are already in force, while others are still subject to consultation and secondary legislation.
For HR professionals, the challenge isn't simply understanding what the Act says.
The real challenge is:
What does this actually mean for how we manage people?
A change in legislation can have implications far beyond updating a policy document. It can affect contracts, HR systems, payroll, recruitment, absence management, employee relations, manager training, record keeping and the way organisations communicate with their employees.
So rather than attempting to create another list of legislative changes, this article looks at the practical question:
If you work in HR, what should you actually be doing now?
First things first: don't treat the Act as one single change
One of the easiest mistakes organisations can make is thinking about the Employment Rights Act as a single implementation deadline.
It isn't.
The Act is being introduced in stages, with measures coming into force throughout 2026 and 2027. Some provisions have already taken effect, further changes are scheduled for October 2026, and significant changes — including unfair dismissal reform — are scheduled for January 2027. Some other measures do not yet have a confirmed implementation date.
That means HR teams need to think about ongoing implementation, rather than a one-off compliance project.
What has already changed?
Before looking ahead, HR teams should establish whether they have actually implemented the changes that are already in force.
For example, from 6 April 2026:
Statutory Sick Pay became payable from the first day of sickness absence for eligible workers.
The Lower Earnings Limit was removed for SSP eligibility.
Unpaid parental leave became a day-one right.
Sexual harassment became a qualifying disclosure for whistleblowing protection.
Employers became subject to new holiday record-keeping requirements, including retaining records for at least six years.
The Fair Work Agency was established, bringing together existing enforcement functions and expanding enforcement into additional employment rights areas.
These changes demonstrate why implementation needs to involve more than HR policy.
For example, an SSP change isn't simply an HR policy issue.
It potentially affects:
HR
Payroll
HRIS
Absence processes
Manager guidance
Employee communications.
That is the mindset HR teams need to adopt for the wider reforms.
October 2026: what needs attention?
October is one of the next major implementation points.
There are two particularly important dates.
From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims will increase from three months to six months. In Scotland, the extension for breach of contract claims will take effect on 9 November 2026.
From 30 October 2026, a number of trade union reforms and strengthened harassment protections are scheduled to take effect.
That means October shouldn't simply be marked in the HR calendar as another legislative deadline.
It should trigger an ER and HR process review.
1. Review your policies
One of the most obvious starting points is your policy suite.
But don't simply search your handbook for references to old legislation and replace the wording.
Ask:
Does the policy still reflect how we actually operate?
Policies potentially requiring review include:
Sexual harassment
Bullying and harassment
Grievance
Disciplinary
Whistleblowing
Trade union recognition and relations
Time off for trade union duties
Absence and sickness
Holiday
Family leave
Flexible working
Recruitment and onboarding
Dismissal
Redundancy
Equality, diversity and inclusion
The purpose isn't to create policies that look legally impressive.
It's to make sure employees and managers can actually understand what to do.
Acas' current advice to HR teams specifically highlights updating policies, improving record keeping, supporting line managers and communicating clearly with staff as practical priorities for employment law reform.
2. Review your ER processes — not just the policies
This is where the legislation becomes much more interesting from an ER perspective.
Imagine an employee raises a grievance.
Your grievance policy is completely compliant.
But what happens in practice?
Who investigates?
How quickly?
How is evidence gathered?
How are witnesses approached?
What records are retained?
How does the manager communicate with the employee?
What happens if the employee appeals?
The Employment Tribunal time-limit extension makes good ER case management even more important.
From October, employees will generally have longer to bring claims, meaning organisations cannot rely on the existing three-month window as a reason to assume that a historic issue is no longer a potential risk.
This is a good opportunity for HR to review its case-management processes.
Can you demonstrate what happened, when it happened and why decisions were made?
If you can't, that's a problem.
3. Audit your HR systems
This is an area that can easily be overlooked.
HR teams should consider whether their HRIS, payroll and other people systems can accommodate the changes being introduced.
For example:
Are absence and SSP calculations configured correctly?
Can your system record the information you now need to retain?
Are holiday records being retained for the required period?
Can you identify relevant employee categories and eligibility?
Are system workflows still accurate?
Are automated letters using correct wording?
Are reporting requirements supported?
Can HR retrieve records quickly if a dispute arises?
The wider lesson is simple:
If your policy says one thing but your HR system does another, your policy isn't your process.
And in an ER case, the system record may become an important part of establishing what actually happened.
4. Don't forget payroll
Some employment law changes have a direct payroll impact.
SSP is an obvious example.
The change to SSP eligibility from April 2026 means payroll teams should already have reviewed their processes and systems.
But HR shouldn't simply assume:
"Payroll has dealt with it."
HR and payroll need to work together.
A useful implementation exercise is to map:
Legislative change → policy → HR process → system → payroll → manager → employee.
If one part of that chain hasn't changed when it needs to, you may have a compliance gap.
5. Prepare your managers
This may be one of the most important parts of implementation.
HR professionals often understand employment law considerably better than the managers who are responsible for applying it day-to-day.
A manager might be the person who:
receives a grievance
deals with an absence
handles a performance concern
responds to a flexible working request
manages a conflict
becomes aware of harassment
makes decisions about workload
communicates organisational change
They don't need to become employment lawyers. But they do need to understand when to involve HR.
For example:
Employee: "I think I'm being treated unfairly."
The worst response is:
"I'm sure that's not the case."
A better response is:
"Thank you for raising this. Let's talk through what's happened, and I'll speak to HR about the appropriate next steps."
The role of manager training should therefore go beyond explaining legislation.
It should focus on behaviour and decision-making.
6. Strengthen your approach to sexual harassment
The changes coming into force on 30 October 2026 will increase employers' obligations around preventing harassment.
Employers will be expected to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment, rather than the existing requirement to take reasonable steps. There will also be new liability relating to harassment by third parties, unless the employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent it. The wider third-party protection applies to harassment, not just sexual harassment.
This is where HR needs to think beyond mandatory training.
Ask:
Have employees been trained?
Have managers been trained?
Do employees know how to report concerns?
Are reports taken seriously?
Are investigations conducted appropriately?
Do employees trust the reporting process?
Are risks from customers, clients or other third parties understood?
Are previous complaints analysed for patterns?
Are high-risk environments or events being reviewed?
Are senior leaders demonstrating appropriate standards?
A policy stating "we have zero tolerance for harassment" isn't evidence that reasonable steps — or ultimately all reasonable steps — have been taken.
The organisation needs to be able to demonstrate what it actually does.
7. Look at trade union relations
October will also bring significant changes to trade union rights and employer obligations.
These include a new duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, strengthened rights of access for trade unions, new rights and protections for union representatives and additional protections relating to industrial action.
For organisations with recognised trade unions, this should prompt a review of collective employment relations.
Do managers understand the role of trade union representatives?
Are arrangements for time off clear?
Do you have appropriate processes for union consultation?
Are HR and managers prepared for increased engagement with representatives?
And perhaps most importantly:
Is your relationship with your recognised unions constructive enough to deal with these changes effectively?
Good industrial relations shouldn't begin when a dispute occurs.
8. Start preparing now for unfair dismissal reform
This is perhaps the biggest reason not to wait until the legislation takes effect.
From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection is due to reduce from two years to six months.
The cap on compensatory awards for successful unfair dismissal claims will also be removed.
This does not mean that employees will have day-one ordinary unfair dismissal protection. The government changed the proposal during the passage of the legislation, with the new qualifying period being six months. Automatically unfair dismissal protections, where no qualifying period currently applies, remain a separate issue.
So what should HR do?
Review probation.
If an organisation currently relies heavily on a two-year qualifying period when managing underperformance or conduct, that approach needs reconsideration.
Consider:
How effective is your probation process?
Are objectives clear?
Are managers holding regular reviews?
Are performance concerns addressed early?
Is documentation consistent?
Are managers trained to distinguish capability, conduct and other issues?
Are decisions properly evidenced?
Are dismissal decisions subject to appropriate HR oversight?
The answer shouldn't be to dismiss people more quickly.
It should be to manage employment relationships properly from the beginning.
9. Don't wait for the legislation to be fully settled before doing anything
There is an important caveat here.
Not every Employment Rights Act measure has a final implementation date or fully settled practical detail. Acas explicitly warns that many changes have not yet happened and that organisations should continue checking updated guidance.
That doesn't mean HR should sit back and wait.
Instead, separate your preparation into three categories:
Do now
Changes already in force.
Audit compliance and correct anything that hasn't been implemented.
Prepare now
Changes with confirmed upcoming implementation dates.
Review policies, systems, processes and training so you're ready before the legal deadline.
Monitor
Changes where implementation dates or detailed requirements are still developing.
Keep a legislative tracker and assign responsibility for monitoring updates.
This approach avoids two common problems:
Doing nothing until the last minute.
Or:
Changing processes repeatedly because you implemented something before the detail was settled.
10. Create an Employment Rights Act implementation plan
If I were starting this project within an HR team, I wouldn't begin by rewriting the employee handbook. I'd create a simple implementation plan that works through each change and identifies what needs to happen.
Start with:
Establish your legislative baseline: identify which changes are already in force and confirm that they have been implemented correctly.
Build an implementation tracker: separate changes that are already confirmed from those still subject to consultation or further guidance. The Government continues to phase implementation across 2026 and 2027, so this should be treated as a live document rather than a one-off project.
Review your policies: identify which policies need updating and, importantly, check whether the written policy reflects what actually happens in practice.
Review your contracts and employee documentation: check whether changes to rights, leave, working arrangements or other terms require amendments to contracts, statements or standard correspondence.
Audit your HR systems: check that your HRIS, payroll and absence systems can accommodate the changes and that automated processes and documentation are accurate.
Review your ER processes: look at how grievances, disciplinaries, performance concerns, absence, harassment complaints and dismissals are currently managed. Ask whether there is a clear and consistent process from start to finish.
Identify manager training needs: managers don't need to become employment lawyers, but they do need to understand their responsibilities, recognise when an issue needs HR involvement and know how to handle sensitive conversations appropriately.
Review harassment prevention: make sure your approach goes beyond having a policy and annual e-learning. Consider reporting mechanisms, manager capability, workplace culture, previous complaints and risks from third parties.
Prepare for future changes: don't wait for a future implementation date before considering the operational impact. For example, changes to unfair dismissal will have implications for probation, performance management, documentation and dismissal processes. Acas specifically recommends that HR teams map reforms against policies, contracts, systems and manager responsibilities.
Communicate with employees: where changes affect employee rights or responsibilities, make sure people understand what is changing and when.
Assign ownership: every action should have someone responsible for completing it, with a deadline and a clear status.
Keep reviewing: legislation, guidance and implementation dates are continuing to develop. Your plan should therefore be reviewed regularly rather than filed away once the first round of changes is complete.
The aim isn't simply to reach each implementation date with a collection of updated documents.
The aim is to make sure the organisation is actually ready to operate differently when the law changes.
What should HR do this month?
If you haven't started preparing, don't panic.
Start small.
1. Establish your legislative baseline
Identify what has already changed and confirm that it has been implemented.
2. Build your implementation tracker
Separate confirmed changes from those still subject to consultation or further guidance.
3. Audit your policies
Don't just check the legal wording. Check whether the policy reflects actual organisational practice.
4. Audit your HR systems
Speak to HRIS, payroll and IT where necessary.
5. Review your ER processes
Look at grievance, disciplinary, absence, performance and dismissal processes.
6. Identify manager training needs
Ask managers what they actually struggle with rather than assuming a generic employment law webinar will solve everything.
7. Review your harassment prevention arrangements
Don't wait until October to discover that your organisation's approach is largely a policy and an annual e-learning module.
8. Start preparing for January 2027
Especially probation, performance management, documentation and dismissal processes.
9. Communicate with employees
Not every legislative change requires a company-wide announcement, but employees need to understand changes that affect their rights and responsibilities.
10. Keep reviewing
Employment law reform is becoming an ongoing HR responsibility rather than a single implementation project.
The bigger ER picture
It would be easy to view the Employment Rights Act purely as a compliance exercise.
Update the policy.
Change the system.
Send the training.
Tick the box.
But employment law doesn't exist in isolation from employee relations.
A grievance isn't simply a process.
A disciplinary isn't simply a letter.
A harassment complaint isn't simply a policy.
And performance management isn't simply a form.
These are all experiences that shape how employees perceive their organisation.
The Employment Rights Act therefore presents HR with a challenge — but also an opportunity.
Rather than asking:
"What do we need to change to comply?"
Perhaps the better question is:
"What can we change to create better employment practices?"
If HR uses the reforms as an opportunity to improve processes, train managers, strengthen record keeping and build better relationships with employees and their representatives, compliance becomes more than a legal requirement.
It becomes part of good HR practice.
Final thought
The Employment Rights Act is going to create work for HR teams.
There is no avoiding that.
But perhaps the biggest mistake would be treating it as a project that starts when a legal deadline arrives and ends when the policy is uploaded to the intranet.
Good HR isn't about knowing every piece of legislation.
It's about understanding how legislation affects people, processes and decisions — and then making sure those things work properly in practice.
The organisations that prepare well won't simply have updated policies.
They'll have better managers, clearer processes, stronger records and more effective employee relations.
And ultimately, that's where the real value of HR sits.