by Stephen Simpson, Brightmine Principle editor – Employment Law and Compliance
The progress of the Employment Rights Bill through Parliament to get Royal Assent and become the Employment Rights Act 2025 has taken longer than expected.
Note: This article represents the position on 18 December 2025, when the Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent to become the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Parliamentary “ping-pong” delays Royal Assent
Since it was first introduced in Parliament, the Employment Rights Bill has taken more than a year to reach its 12th and final parliamentary stage: Royal Assent. This is where the Bill finally became an Act of Parliament.
The Bill was first published on 10 October 2024 and received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025.
A year is an unusually long time for a Bill to become an Act of Parliament, reflecting the scope and complexity – and the controversial nature – of elements of the legislation.
The penultimate “consideration of amendments” stage was particularly tortuous, as the Bill entered what is known as Parliamentary “ping-pong”.
“Ping-pong” is the process whereby a Bill goes back and forth between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, to iron out any remaining points of disagreement between the Houses.
“The Employment Rights Act represents the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in decades, with significant implications for HR. The reforms aim to create fairer, more secure workplaces, but they also introduce compliance complexity and cost pressures, particularly for organisations that have historically operated at the statutory minimum. HR teams will need to rewrite policies, ensure managers are trained, and reconfigure payroll systems and budgets. Preparing now is essential to avoid disruption and ensure a smooth transition.”
– Victoria Burrow, Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre Head of Content
What are the sticking points?
The three remaining controversial elements of the legislation were settled on 10 December 2025, when the Employment Rights Bill was back in the House of Lords during the “consideration of amendments” stage.
The changes to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, introduction of the right to guaranteed hours for zero and low hours workers, and removal of the 50% turnout threshold for industrial action ballots proved to be the most divisive issues during the ping-pong between the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
However, the Government’s surprise late addition of a proposal to remove the cap on unfair dismissal compensation proved to be a final sticking point.
Change to qualifying period for unfair dismissal
The Government originally proposed the removal of the two-year qualifying service period for claiming unfair dismissal and the introduction of an “initial period of employment” (often referred to as the “statutory probation period”).
In other words, protection against unfair dismissal would become a day-one right but employers would be allowed to follow a less onerous procedure to dismiss an employee during this statutory probation period.
However, the Government accepted the House of Lords’ counter-proposal of a reduction in the qualifying service period to claim unfair dismissal from two years to six months.
(According to Brightmine’s Probationary period research 2025, most employers – six in 10 – use a six-month probationary period.)
The Government announced in the House of Commons a 1 January 2027 implementation date for the move to a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims. This means that anyone who is employed from 1 July 2026 onwards would benefit, since they will have the required six months’ service by 1 January 2027.
“The new duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment raises the bar from the previous standard, which was introduced only very recently – the duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Many employers have to date managed to take only one or two steps to prevent sexual harassment due to other competing demands. It will be interesting to see how much room the Government gives employers to interpret what ‘all reasonable steps’ will look like in their context, given the diverse industries and employer sizes where risk and operational capacity vary widely.”
– Bar Huberman, Brightmine, HR & Compliance Centre Content Manager
Introduction of right to guaranteed hours for zero and low hours workers
The Government proposed that workers on zero hours contracts, or contracts providing for a low number of guaranteed hours, be given the right to receive an offer to move to a guaranteed hours contract that reflects the hours they have regularly worked over a particular reference period.
The House of Lords initially sought to dilute this proposal by suggesting that, instead of being required to offer guaranteed hours after the reference period, employers would have to notify workers of their right to receive that offer and provide a “right to request” process.
However, the House of Lords ultimately accepted the Government’s original proposal.
Removal of 50% turnout threshold for industrial action ballots
Among the raft of reforms to industrial relations law, the Government proposed the removal of the 50% turnout threshold of union members for industrial action ballots to be valid.
The House of Lords’ counter-proposal was that this 50% turnout threshold for industrial action would be maintained.
However, the House of Lords ultimately accepted the Government’s original proposal.
Removal of unfair dismissal compensation cap
As part of the behind-the-scenes negotiations when a reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying service period to six months was agreed, the Government inserted a surprise late proposal: the removal of the cap on compensation in unfair dismissal claims.
Alongside the smaller basic award, the current maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal is £118,223 (from 6 April 2025), or 52 times the claimant’s weekly pay if this is lower than £118,223.
The Government’s proposal was the complete removal of the cap on the compensatory award in employment tribunals.
Compensation is already uncapped in discrimination claims and in some claims for automatic unfair dismissal, including in relation to whistleblowing dismissals.
On 10 December 2025, the Government’s proposal was narrowly defeated in the House of Lords, by 244 votes to 220.
However, the House of Lords ultimately accepted the Government’s original proposal, following a letter from business leaders to the Government urging it to see the Bill through without further delays, while still expressing concerns over certain aspects of the legislation.
Meanwhile, the Government stated that it would carry out an impact assessment on the proposal to remove the unfair dismissal compensation cap.
“The late addition of a proposal to make compensation for unfair dismissal uncapped has the potential for major unintended consequences for employers, not least the increased financial risk of taking on new hires. If unfair dismissal compensation is completely uncapped, employers really need to make their recruitment, induction and – most importantly – their probation processes watertight in quick order. That is especially the case if the uncapping of unfair dismissal compensation is aligned with the proposed 1 January 2027 implementation date for the move to a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims. That may sound a long way off but it would mean that anyone who is employed from July 2026 onwards would benefit from both changes, since they will have the required six months’ service by 1 January 2027.”
– Stephen Simpson, Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre Principal Editor
What happens next?
Royal Assent for Employment Rights Act 2025
Following a return to the House of Commons on 15 December 2025 and a final session in the House of Lords on 16 December 2025, all points of contention between the Commons and Lords have been ironed out.
The Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 to become the Employment Rights Act 2025, completing its passage through Parliament.
However, employers need to bear in mind that no major changes take effect on Royal Assent, with many of the provisions needing further consultation and secondary legislation before they are implemented – see Government consultations well underway and Timetable for implementation of individual measures.
Government consultations well underway
It is estimated that the Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce more than 30 major employment law changes.
However, many of these measures will need public consultation followed by secondary legislation to flesh out the details.
The Government has previously consulted on proposals to:
- strengthen statutory sick pay;
- strengthen remedies against abuse of rules on collective redundancy and fire and rehire;
- apply the zero and low hours workers measures to agency workers; and
- create a modern framework for industrial relations.
These four consultations opened on 21 October 2024 and closed in early December 2024.
“Interesting – but perhaps not surprising – to see extended eligibility for statutory sick pay top our recent webinar poll as the biggest worry for employers in relation to the April 2026 changes. Handling sickness absence effectively has always been a challenge for employers, and with all employees becoming eligible for SSP from the first day of sickness absence, effective policies and processes around sickness absence management will be even more important. As is the way with so many employment rights, with the right preparation and training, line managers will be key to how organisations navigate the change successfully.”
– Laura Merrylees, Brightmine, HR & Compliance Centre Senior Legal Editor
On 23 October 2025, the Government opened four consultations covering proposals for:
- a new right of union access to the workplace (closes on 18 December 2025);
- a new duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union (closes on 18 December 2025);
- enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers (closes on 15 January 2026); and
- the introduction of statutory bereavement leave, including for pregnancy loss (closes on 15 January 2026).
The Government has said that it intends to publish 26 public consultations after the Employment Rights Act 2025 completes its passage through Parliament.
Timetable for implementation of individual measures
Despite the delays during Parliamentary ping-pong, the Government has not updated its roadmap timetable (originally published on 1 July 2025), which set out its approach to the implementation of individual measures.
In the roadmap, the Government stated that the changes will take effect in phases, with common commencement dates of 6 April and 1 October. This means that the first set of major changes are still expected to take effect on 6 April 2026.
The Government roadmap sets out the following implementation schedule – more details on each of the proposals are available in Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre’s own legal timetable.
“The Employment Rights Act contains some positive changes, as well as some less welcome ones. In certain areas, such as equalising family leave, the Act had the potential to go further and it’s unfortunate that organisations are the ones driving these changes. What has been particularly fascinating is following the Act’s journey. In my 20 years of working in employment law, I have never seen legislation quite like this, both in terms of the breadth of the reforms and the journey it has taken through Parliament. With an already overburdened tribunal system, and the Employment Rights Act introducing several new causes of action, it will be interesting to see how tribunals adapt.”
– Zeba Sayed, Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre Senior Legal Editor
In force at Royal Assent or soon after
- Repeal of Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Changes to rules on industrial action ballots
Taking effect in April 2026
- Changes to entitlement to statutory paternity leave and ordinary parental leave to make them day-one employment rights
- Simplification of trade union recognition process
- Establishment of Fair Work Agency, a single enforcement body for employment rights
- Removal of requirement to earn at or above the lower earnings limit and three-day waiting period to qualify for statutory sick pay
- Addition of sexual harassment to list of types of disclosure that qualify for whistleblowing protection
- Doubling of protective award for collective redundancy consultation failures
Taking effect in October 2026
- Making “fire and rehire” dismissals automatically unfair in most circumstances
- Reintroduction of employer liability for third-party harassment and addition of word “all” before “reasonable steps” in respect of positive duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment
- Requirement to consult employee representatives on allocation of tips policies
- Extension of time limits for bringing employment tribunal claims to six months
- New right of trade union access to workplace and requirement to provide workers with written statement that they have right to join trade union
Taking effect in 2027
- Reduction in unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months
- Introduction of requirement for employers with 250+ employees to publish gender pay gap and menopause action plan alongside their gender pay gap figures
- Procedural reforms to right to request flexible working
- Provision for zero and low hours workers to be given right to guaranteed number of hours and reasonable notice of cancellation of, or change to, shift
- Increased protection from dismissal for pregnant employees and those on or returning from family-related leave
- Widening of statutory bereavement leave beyond death of child, including pregnancy loss, to provide employees with time off to grieve for loss of loved ones
- Reforms to triggers for collective redundancy consultation obligations
“The Employment Rights Act is more than just a new law; it marks a big change in how we think about work. What stands out to me about this Act is how the psychological contract between employers and employees is being reshaped to include more fairness, certainty and trust. The Act is responding to recent changes in society, like how people’s expectations have shifted after the pandemic, younger generations’ different views on work and the growing dislike for insecure jobs. The law may change overnight, but workplace culture takes longer to catch up, especially in sectors where unpredictability has been normalised. This Act will be a test not only of whether organisations follow the law, but also of their values.”
– Lilia Dangi, Brightmine, HR & Compliance Centre Legal Editor
How Brightmine is helping HR to prepare for the Employment Rights Act 2025
Horizon scanning for employment law changes
- We are constantly monitoring what is happening with upcoming legal changes and translating what is happening into practical steps that you can take to prepare.
- We are keeping track of the multiple government consultations and potentially dozens of pieces of secondary legislation that will be needed to flesh out the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025.
- After the Employment Rights Act 2025’s provisions have been introduced, they will have an impact on case law rulings for decades to come. We also monitor, and report on, developments from court and tribunal judgments.
HR policy updates
- Our HR templates are consistently our most popular resources used by HR professionals, including our suite of 150 model policies and over 500 accompanying model HR letters and forms.
- As we get more details of how the changes will work, we will set out clearly any changes you need to make to your policies and other documentation, and indeed any new policies that you will need to introduce from scratch.
- For example, you are going to have to review and update your organisation’s policies and processes on:
- onboarding;
- probation;
- flexible working requests;
- bereavement leave;
- paternity leave;
- ordinary parental leave;
- sickness absence;
- bullying and harassment;
- varying terms and conditions of employment; and
- redundancy.
Implementation of HR policies and procedures
- We are always acutely aware that your organisation can have a perfectly worded and up-to-date policy, but that it is worthless if it is not implemented properly. That is why we will have additional practical guidance on how your organisation can actually put any changes to employment law into practice.
- In particular, we recognise the key role that line managers play on the ground, which is why we accompany our new and updated HR policies with up-to-date line manager briefings that you can use to train managers.
- We also provide detailed “how to” guides to help HR professionals with implementation, as well as leading practice guides, which focus more on HR strategy.
Day-to-day queries and firefighting
- Once the dust has settled on the changes, our reference materials are ideal for HR professionals who need to check on something from a legal standpoint.
- For example, it could be how to deal with a specific situation in the new post-Employment Rights Act 2025 world, or it could be checking what someone’s rights are under the new legal landscape.
- We have several hundred detailed employment law guides and 100s of FAQs to answer all your legal questions.
Research/surveys of employers
- We recognise the increasing importance that data plays in HR’s decision-making. That is why we are running surveys relevant to the Employment Rights Act 2025, to help your organisation to:
- chart progress towards implementation of the Act;
- compare what your organisation is doing to prepare against what other employers are doing; and
- plan which changes to prioritise and budget for.
- For example, we have already surveyed hundreds of HR professionals about their overall views on how the legislation will affect their organisation and how employers are preparing to review their probationary policies because of the forthcoming strengthening of unfair dismissal rights.
- We have also surveyed employers about the potential impact of the first raft of changes due to take effect in April 2026. This research examines the anticipated impact of these proposals and captures HR professionals’ thoughts on what the changes will mean for their organisation.
“I’ve always been disappointed that somebody who experiences pregnancy loss prior to 24 weeks has no rights to time off, especially when compared to the leave employees are entitled to if they lose their baby post-24 weeks, which is an area the Employment Rights Act seeks to address. I am particularly intrigued to see how the Government legislates on the right to bereavement leave in terms of the qualifying relationship of the person to the deceased. I often think: is it appropriate to specify the people who an employee needs to grieve for?”
– Laura Kimpton, Brightmine HR & Compliance Centre Strategy and Practice Editor
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About the author
Stephen Simpson
Principal editor – Employment Law and Compliance, Brightmine
Stephen is a principal editor who has worked on the Brightmine employment law and leading practice resources for over 20 years. After growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, he trained as a solicitor in England in the 1990s but soon moved into legal publishing. He was among the first recruits to Brightmine in the year before it was launched as XpertHR in 2002.
Stephen has worked on a wide range of employment law and leading practice resources, including overseeing the creation and expansion of the HR templates resource types (Policies and procedures, Letters and forms, and Contract clauses). He has written up over 1,000 reports on employment law cases and created practical guidance on a range of HR issues for the Commentary & insights tool. He also had a stint working on Personnel Today.
Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn.
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