Employment Rights Act: revised timeline

On 3 February 2026 the UK Government published a revised implementation timetable for the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Although most of the timeline remains unchanged from the July 2025 roadmap, there are a few key differences:

• The prohibition on 'fire and rehire' and 'fire and replace' other than in limited circumstances is now expected to come into force in January 2027 rather than October 2026. The Government has published a consultation for views on which expenses, benefits and shift changes should be covered by the new protections.
• The reduction to the qualifying period of service for unfair dismissal claims will apply to any employee with six months' service as at 1 January 2027. The removal of the statutory cap on the unfair dismissal compensatory award (currently the lower of £118,223 and 52 weeks’ gross pay) will come into effect on the same date. Read our earlier blog for information on the practical impact of these changes.
• The implementation dates for electronic and workplace balloting have been delayed. The introduction of electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots is now expected in August 2026, while electronic and workplace balloting for trade union recognition and derecognition will not be in force until sometime in 2027.

We still do not have proposed implementation dates for the following changes:

• Non-disclosure agreements which seek to prevent a worker from making allegations or disclosures in relation to harassment or discrimination, or the response to harassment or discrimination or allegations made in this regard, will be void unless it is an 'excepted agreement'.
• New obligation on employers to keep records relating to compliance with annual leave and pay for six years.

Employment Rights Act timeline and webinars

For information on the proposed timing of all the provisions in the Employment Rights Act 2025, see our Employment Rights Act timeline.

Also, we are running an Employment Rights Act webinar series, where we will be hosting 30-minute webinars over the coming months providing practical guidance on key aspects of the Act. The next of these will cover Trade unions - key changes and actions for employers on 27 August 2026. Further details and a link to register can be found here.

Workbox by Brodies

Workbox by Brodies users have access to our:

• HR to-do list which provides an ‘at-a-glance' summary of key HR, employment and immigration updates including in relation to the Employment Rights Act; and
• Guidance on the practical steps employers can take to prepare for the reforms at Employment Rights Act 2025: Preparatory Steps.