Looking Ahead: More Employment Rights Act Changes to Come

As you will likely remember, the changes being brought in by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 25) are coming in stages. With many businesses now breathing a sigh of relief that they have dealt with the April changes, we take a quick look at some other changes on the horizon in our two-part Legal Update.

There are two key dates for your diary – October 2026 and 1^st January 2027. Whilst 2027 in particular may seem like a long time away, businesses are going to want to be prepared in advance for these changes. We will keep you updated on developments as we move through the year but for now what are five key changes on the horizon?

1. Third party harassment
2. Sexual harassment – all reasonable steps
3. Trade unions – new right of access and statement of workers’ rights to join a trade union
4. Doubling of employment tribunal time limits
5. Reduction of the ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months 

Third party harassment 

The ERA 25 will make employers liable for third party harassment, for example by customers or contractors, if it occurs in the course of the employee’s employment and the employer fails to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. It is important to be aware that liability could arise for a single act of third party harassment and it will not just cover sexual harassment but all protected characteristics, for example harassment in relation to race, or religion.

With the change planned to come into effect in October 2026, employers will need to be ready to identify and implement all the reasonable steps that they can take to prevent any third party harassment. 

Sexual harassment – all reasonable steps

Currently employers are under a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of employees. This will be changing in October 2026 with the expansion of the duty to ‘all’ reasonable steps. Businesses may wish start preparing by reviewing the steps they are already taking to comply with the current duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and considering whether there are any other things they could do (or could do better) that may further reduce the risk of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Trade unions – new rights of access and statement of workers’ rights to join a trade union

October 2026 will see a new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union and also new rights for trade unions to access workplaces (whether digitally or physically).

In relation to the right to access, we are still awaiting regulations that will set out the specifics of how the right will work, but the government has recently published their response to a consultation on this area and a consultation is underway on a draft code of practice. Here is a brief overview of some key points so far:

• Trade unions will be able to ask an employer with more than 20 employees for access to their workers. The government’s preference is for voluntary access requests, but where this is unsuccessful there will be a statutory framework and a model written request form for unions to use 

• Trade union officials will be able to access workplaces for any of the ‘access purposes’ set out in ERA 25: meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting or organising workers (whether or not they are members of a trade union) and facilitating collective bargaining. The access purposes do not include organising industrial action

• Under the statutory framework employers will have 15 working days to respond to an access request. If the employer does not agree to the access request in full there will be a further period for negotiation

• If the union and the employer cannot reach an access agreement after that, either party can refer the matter to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) which will decide whether to award access and on what terms

• The government will publish ‘model terms’ for access agreements which the CAC will consider reasonable (the inclusion of these model terms in a request making it much more likely that they will grant a union’s access request), the model terms will include the union being entitled to have access up to once per week and a maximum duration for the access agreement of up to two years

• If one party believes the other has breached the terms of an access agreement a complaint can be made to the CAC, if the complaint is upheld it can order the steps the party must take to comply. Subsequent breaches can lead to a penalty order of up to £75,000, increasing to up to £150,000 and £500,000 for further breaches 

We will keep you updated on developments. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the second part of this Legal Update where we take a look at increases to employment tribunal time limits and the reduction of the ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months.