The government has published the Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap, setting out anticipated commencement dates for different parts of the Bill.
In what is likely to be seen as good news by many businesses, the government is now not proposing to introduce ‘day one unfair dismissal rights’ or rights to ‘guaranteed hours offers’ for zero hours’ workers until 2027. These changes were understandably of particular concern to many businesses, which will welcome additional time to prepare.
So, what are some of the key things you need to know about the government’s ‘roadmap’?
- Phased implementation plan
- Timeline for consultation on key areas
- What next?
Phased implementation plan
The government has said that “phasing commencement will mean stakeholders will be able to plan their time and resources to make sure they are ready when the changes come in.”
The government roadmap sets out their initial view of when the provisions will be implemented, in brief:
- 6th April 2026 – changes include doubling the maximum protective award for breach of collective redundancy consultation requirements, making paternity leave and parental leave day one rights and changes to SSP (removing the waiting days and the lower earnings limit)
- 1st October 2026 – changes include significant curtailment of employers’ ability to ‘fire and re-hire,’ doubling most time limits for bringing an employment tribunal claim, requiring employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment at work (currently it is ‘reasonable steps’), obligations on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties
- Measures that will take effect in 2027 include – Making ordinary unfair dismissal protection a day one right, new guaranteed hours offers for zero- and low-hours employees and agency workers, change to the trigger for collective redundancy consultation requirements, new statutory right to bereavement leave
Many businesses will find it helpful to finally have a clearer picture of the government’s expected timetable.
Timeline for consultation
While the Employment Rights Bill sets out the general position, key details of how many of the individual measures will work in practice remain to be seen as they will need to be consulted on, agreed and then set out in secondary legislation and regulations or in some cases guidance or codes of practice.
The government’s timeline for consultation includes:
- Summer / Autumn 2025 – ordinary unfair dismissal protection from ‘day one’, including the dismissal process in the statutory probation period. It will be interesting to see what the probationary period dismissal process will look like as it has been described as a ‘light touch procedure.’
- Autumn 2025 – ‘fire and rehire’, bereavement leave, provisions relating to zero hours / low hours contracts
- Winter/ early 2026 – collective redundancy and flexible working measures
The government has said that “some measures may require more than one round of consultation”.
What’s next?
The Employment Rights Bill is continuing through the legislative process, and we will continue to keep you up to date with developments in this area.
In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding an HR matter that’s affecting your business, please get in touch, as we are happy to help.