Following speculation that the protracted passage of the Employment Rights Act 2025 through Parliament might delay the delivery of some aspects of the legislation, this month the Government has published an updated timeline for implementing key policy strands.
The most notable changes from the original July 2025 ‘roadmap’ are as follows:
- The provisions relating to ‘fire and rehire’ (previously expected to come into force in October 2026) have been pushed back to January 2027.
- The extension of the time limit to bring employment tribunal claims from 3 months to 6 months, previously set for October 2026, is now scheduled for ‘no earlier than October 2026’, allowing for some flexibility but creating uncertainty for employers. It is possible that this change may be introduced in January 2027, at the same time as the reduction of the unfair dismissal qualifying period from 2 years to 6 months, and the ‘uncapping’ of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal (although this is unconfirmed).
- Electronic and workplace balloting for trade unions will be introduced in August 2026 (brought forward from October 2026). Electronic balloting is currently subject to consultation
- It is confirmed that the Fair Work Agency will be established on 7 April 2026 (although establishing the scope of its remit and transferring functions over from other agencies is likely to take much longer).
It is important to note that the implementation timeline may be subject to further changes as the year progresses. We will keep you informed of any significant developments.
Happening Now: February 2026 changes to trade union law
A suite of changes to trade union law, implemented by ERA 2025, came into effect on 18 February 2026 (two months after the ERA 2025 was given Royal Assent).
The majority of the Trade Union Act 2016, which set out detailed procedural requirements for industrial action, has been repealed, making it simpler for Unions to organise and carry out strikes. The changes remove some of the ‘trip hazards’ for Unions which could potentially be used by employers to challenge the validity of strike action.
These important new rules now in force include:
- Picketing: Removal of the statutory requirements for trade unions to ‘supervise’ picketing, appoint a designated picket supervisor and to adhere to prescriptive picketing rules (s75 ERA 2025).
- Simplifying Industrial action notices and ballot notices; The amount of information that must be provided in ballot notices to employers (s71), ballot voting papers (s72), and industrial action notices to employers (s74) is now significantly reduced. Most importantly, ballot papers no longer need to include a detailed description of the dispute or a timetable for action. Members will now just need to vote on the action that they want to take; ‘strike action’ or ‘action short of a strike.’
- Notice Requirements: Unions now only need to give employers 10 days' notice of industrial action (previously 14 days) (s74). Unions no longer need to tell employers in advance how many workers in each role may strike. This means that employers will have less time and scope to mitigate the impact of strike action or attempt to avoid it altogether.
- Strike Mandates; A properly executed ballot will now provide a trade union with a mandate for strike action for 12 months rather than 6 months (reducing scope for employers to prolong negotiations in the hope that the strike mandate will expire) (s72). This will also reduce the frequency with which unions will need to re-ballot. The new mandate period applies to ballots opening on or after 18 February 2026.
- Protection for employees for taking industrial action: Previously, employees taking part in industrial action were only protected from unfair dismissal for an initial ‘protected period’ of 12 weeks. This has now been removed and protection is open-ended (s77).
Separately, there is now new, additional protection for employees subject to any detriment ‘short of dismissal’ for taking industrial action (such as a withdrawal of benefits or reduced access to overtime) (s76). This plugs the gap highlighted by the Supreme Court in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer - Turnouts and support thresholds: The requirement that 50% of those entitled to vote must turn out for a ballot to be valid remains in place for now (although this expected to be scrapped in April 2026 following consultation/impact assessment insisted upon by the House of Lords in the Act’s pre-Royal Assent parliamentary ping-pong last year). However, the additional requirement that in ‘important public services’ (such as fire, health, and transport) 40% of those entitled to vote must vote in support of a proposal has been removed with effect for ballots taking place from 18 February 2026 (s68). A ‘simple majority’ of those actually voting will be sufficient.
Note a requirement that 40% of the bargaining until must vote in support will continue to apply to recognition/derecognition ballots until April 2026 (see below). - Public sector changes: In public sector organisations, the legal power to cap facilities time for trade union representatives has been removed, and employers no longer have to publish facility time data (s66). Employers can no longer charge unions ‘check-off’ fees for deducting member subscriptions direct from pay (s63).
These changes will inevitably place greater onus on proactive industrial relations and dispute resolution by employers, as strike action will be easier to organise, more difficult to challenge, and potentially much more disruptive to operations and productivity. Further changes to the trade union recognition process are anticipated in April 2026.
Happening Next: Coming up in April 2026
Further ERA 2025 changes are coming soon in April 2026. Key changes include:
- Collective redundancy: The maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult will increase from 90 days to 180 days’ pay per employee. The increase will apply to dismissals which happen on or after 6 April 2026.
- Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave will both become ‘Day 1’ rights with no qualifying period of service. Importantly though, it is understood that 26 weeks’ service will still be required before an employee qualifies for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). The current anomalous restriction in taking paternity leave after a period of Shared Parental Leave will also be removed.
Separately, outside the ERA 2025, Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave (BPPL) will enable bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life (and the bereavement takes place on or after 6 April 2026). - Whistleblowing: Complaints of sexual harassment will automatically be considered whistleblowing disclosures. All other proposed changes to the whistleblowing regime were abandoned during the passage of the ERA 2025 through Parliament.
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – removing the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and waiting period
- Trade Union recognition: Various changes intended to simplify the trade union recognition process are due to come into force in April 2026 with many, including new electronic balloting processes and preventing unfair practices during voting, currently subject to consultation. For example, a union will no longer be required to demonstrate to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) that there is a ‘likelihood’ of majority support for recognition in the bargaining unit. Further, the requirement for 40% of the bargaining unit to vote in favour of recognition will be removed (meaning that a ‘simple majority’ of those actually voting will be sufficient).
- Voluntary Measures: employer action plans on gender equality and
supporting employees through the menopause will be introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026, with a view to these becoming mandatory some time in 2027 (possibly spring 2027). The Government’s timeline also states that new menopause guidance (still awaited) will take effect on 6 April 2026.
