The Employment Rights Act 2025 timeline: every date on one page
The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and phases in across 2026 and 2027. The main tranche landed on 6 April 2026 (Statutory Sick Pay from day one, day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave, holiday records, voluntary action plans), with the Fair Work Agency on 7 April 2026. Tribunal time limits and third-party harassment are confirmed for 1 October 2026. The six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period, uncapped awards and the end of fire and rehire are confirmed for 1 January 2027. The guaranteed-hours regime and mandatory action plans are indicative for 2027, with the key consultation closing 25 August 2026.
Why read this as a changelog
The Act is not one switch. It is a sequence of commencement dates, some already passed, some fixed, and some still being finalised by secondary legislation. Reading it as a dated changelog, in the order the changes actually take effect, is the only way to see what you need to do next rather than what changes in the abstract. The table below is the whole rollout on one page. Each row carries a status: in force, confirmed, or awaiting regulations.
| Date | Measure | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Dec 2025 | Royal Assent; repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 | In force |
| 18 Feb 2026 | Protection from dismissal for industrial action; most of the Trade Union Act 2016 repealed | In force |
| 6 Apr 2026 | SSP from day one, no Lower Earnings Limit; day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave; bereaved partner's paternity leave; collective redundancy protective award doubled to 180 days; whistleblowing covers sexual harassment; voluntary action plans; simplified union recognition; holiday records kept six years | In force |
| 7 Apr 2026 | Fair Work Agency established | In force |
| Aug 2026 | Electronic and workplace balloting for union ballots | Confirmed (period) |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Tribunal time limits extended from three to six months; third-party harassment liability and the reasonable-steps duty strengthened | Confirmed |
| 1 Jan 2027 | Unfair dismissal qualifying period cut from two years to six months; compensatory cap removed; fire and rehire largely ends | Confirmed |
| 2027 | Guaranteed hours and shift-notice rules for zero-hours and low-hours workers; agency workers brought into scope; mandatory action plans for larger employers; day-one bereavement leave; stronger pregnancy dismissal protection; flexible-working and NDA reforms | Awaiting regulations |
The one thing not to get wrong
Unfair dismissal is not becoming a day-one right. The original Bill proposed day-one unfair dismissal with a statutory initial period of employment; that proposal was defeated in the House of Lords and abandoned. What actually happens on 1 January 2027 is that the qualifying period drops from two years to six months. Older briefings still describe a day-one right, so this is the correction worth carrying into any planning. Our unfair dismissal guide covers who is in scope on the day the change lands.
Confirmed vs awaiting regulations
Two of the dates above are worth treating differently from the rest. Everything up to and including 1 January 2027 is either in force or confirmed. The 2027 block is indicative: the government has named the year, but the detail depends on consultation and secondary legislation. The most important of these, the guaranteed-hours regime for zero-hours workers, is still being consulted on, with the consultation closing 25 August 2026. Prepare for these, but do not treat the dates as locked. See the guaranteed-hours guide for what to do now.
What changed on the way here
The government published a roadmap in July 2025, then a revised timeline update after Royal Assent. Where the two differ, the revised timeline governs. The clearest example is fire and rehire: the July 2025 roadmap indicated October 2026, and the revised timeline moved the automatically-unfair rule to 1 January 2027. We record each such change so the timeline stays honest rather than silently drifting.
How to use this timeline
Read down the table to the next date that has not yet passed, then act on the rows above it that touch your business. Most measures apply regardless of headcount; a few, such as the mandatory action plans, are aimed at larger employers. To skip the general reading and get only the rows that apply to your headcount and contract types, run the free checker on the home page, or get the dated report that turns the relevant rows into a printable action list.
Sources
- Employment Rights Act 2025, Royal Assent 18 December 2025. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36
- GOV.UK timeline update, the revised tranche dates. gov.uk timeline update
- Acas, Employment Rights Act 2025. acas.org.uk/employment-rights-act-2025
Content accurate as at 12 July 2026. The 2027 measures are still being finalised; re-check the primary source before acting on an indicative date.
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