Employment Rights Act 2025: Owner/Director Checklist
Posted on January 6, 2026
Know the timeline (so you don’t get caught out)
- Now (law in place):Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent 18 Dec 2025
- Most changes land in: 2026–2027 and will be phased in.
Quick risk health check
- Do we have up-to-date contracts for all staff?
- Have we considered measures to prevent sexual harassment, which will also need to be reviewed so that “all reasonable” steps can be identified and implemented?
- Have we considered updating our policies in line with the changes, especially absence and harassment?
- Do managers actually follow a consistent process, or does it vary by person or team?
- Do we have a clear process for managing induction?
- Do we recruit thoroughly?
- If a complaint landed tomorrow, would we have a clean paper trail (notes, letters, outcomes)?
2026 changes to plan for
- Collective redundancy risk increases: Protective award doubles from 90 → 180 days’ pay if consultation is mishandled
- Whistleblowing & sexual harassment: Sexual harassment becomes a qualifying disclosure, and employers have an obligation not to permit harassment by third parties
- SSP: Removal of lower earnings limit and waiting period requirements for Statutory Sick Pay
- Tribunal time limits: Most claims extend from 3 → 6 months (records need to be kept longer and tighter)
- Paternity and unpaid parental leave: Removal of service requirement, making it a day-one right
- “Fire and rehire”: Becomes automatically unfair in most cases (contract changes must be treated carefully)
- Tips management: Tightening of the way tips are managed
- Trade unions & industrial action
2027 changes to plan for
- Unfair dismissal qualifying period reduces: Eligibility after 6 months (currently 2 years), including those that started employment in early 2025
- Flexible working: If rejecting, you must explain the reason and show why it applies
- Zero-hours / guaranteed hours + cancelled shifts: Requirement to offer zero-hours, low-hours, and agency workers a guaranteed-hours contract reflecting their usual working hours, plus notice or compensation for changes to shifts
- Pregnancy/maternity protections strengthened + bereavement leave: Update policies and manager guidance
- Sexual harassment: All reasonable steps must have been taken to prevent sexual harassment
What owners should do now (the 5 actions that reduce risk fastest)
- Update your documents: Contracts, handbook, and core policies (especially performance, absence, grievance, harassment)
- Standardise manager playbooks: Simple steps and templates for performance, absence, and conduct so issues don’t escalate
- Train managers on “first response”: What to say, what to document, and when to escalate (protects delivery and reduces owner time)
- Strengthen documentation discipline: Meeting notes, letters, outcomes, and timelines (assume longer claim windows)
- Review contract change approach: Avoid informal changes and plan consultation and communications early
Free 30-minute People Risk Triage
In 30 minutes we can sanity-check what’s most relevant from the Act for your business and identify your top priority actions.
Feel free to give us a call below, or book directly using the link.
https://calendly.com/jo-ferguson/30min
