6.3m
employees gain unfair dismissal protection (two years to six months)
1 Jan 2027 · confirmed
Data analysis · who the Act reaches, and when
Who the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes things for, measure by measure
The Act does not land all at once, and it does not touch everyone equally. Some measures reach a fifth of the workforce, others a specific slice of the lowest paid. Using the government's own analysis alongside ONS and Ministry of Justice figures, this page maps how many workers each headline change reaches, set against the exact date it takes effect.
6.3memployees, one measure
6.3 million employees move into unfair dismissal protection on 1 January 2027, when the qualifying period drops from two years to six months. That is the single largest population any one measure in the Act reaches: roughly one in five of the UK's 30.2 million payrolled employees.
It is also the most misreported. This is not a day-one right. The day-one proposal was defeated in the House of Lords and dropped. The figure below is for the six-month rule that actually became law.
2.4m
workers in scope of the guaranteed-hours duty
2027 · indicative
1.3m
low-paid employees newly eligible for sick pay
6 Apr 2026 · in force
1.17m
people on zero-hours contracts today, a record high
ONS · 2025
Base workforce for comparison: 30.2 million payrolled UK employees (ONS PAYE Real Time Information, December 2025 early estimate). Sources in full at the foot of the page.
Reach, by measure
Three headline measures, three very different-sized groups
The Act bundles dozens of changes, but three carry the largest, best-quantified populations, and each reaches a different group. The unfair dismissal change is broad: it affects any employee who has not yet passed the old two-year mark. The guaranteed-hours duty is narrower and aimed at insecure work. The sick pay change is narrower still, targeted at the lowest paid who were previously shut out entirely.
Reading them side by side shows the shape of the Act: one measure for the many, two for specific groups the government singled out as underprotected.
Figure 1. Workers newly reached by each headline measure, in millions of people
How to readEach bar is the population that one measure newly reaches, per the government's figures. The bars are not additive: one worker can sit in more than one group (a zero-hours worker under six months' service is counted for both). Hover or focus a bar for the exact figure and source.
02m4m6.3m
Sources: Employment Rights Act 2025 Economic Analysis (gov.uk, Jan 2026); government zero-hours and guaranteed-hours impact assessment; Employment Rights Act 2025 Statutory Sick Pay factsheet (gov.uk); ONS zero-hours series (EMP17). Checked 12 July 2026.
Reach, over time
The same measures, plotted on the rollout
A count on its own hides the sequencing. The reach and the calendar interact: the biggest single measure (unfair dismissal, 6.3 million people) does not land until 1 January 2027, while the sick pay change (up to 1.3 million) is already in force. The chart below places each measure at its date, with the marker sized by the number of workers it reaches where a government figure exists, and coloured by how firm the date is.
Read left to right, it shows the pattern the government chose: get the in-force April 2026 changes done first, confirm the autumn and new-year 2027 tranches, and leave the largest insecure-work reforms as indicative for later in 2027, still subject to consultation.
Figure 2. Each measure at its commencement date. Marker size shows workers reached; colour shows how firm the date is
How to readHorizontal position is the date a measure takes effect. A bigger circle means it reaches more workers (only three measures carry a published population figure; the rest are drawn at a fixed small size). Green is in force, navy is a confirmed date, grey is indicative for 2027. Hover or focus a marker for detail.
In force
Confirmed date
Indicative 2027
larger circle = more workers reached
Dates: Employment Rights Act 2025 and the government implementation timeline update (gov.uk); Acas. Population figures as in Figure 1. Checked 12 July 2026.
The change that moves the most people
Where unfair dismissal protection begins: from 24 months to 6
The 6.3 million figure is easiest to understand as a line on a service-length scale. Until the end of 2026, an employee has no ordinary unfair dismissal protection until they reach two years' service. From 1 January 2027, that line moves back to six months. Everyone who sits in the band between six months and two years, roughly a fifth of all employees, moves from unprotected to protected.
This is the concrete correction the whole product is built around. It is not day one. It is a shorter qualifying period, and the exact people it newly covers are the ones in that highlighted band.
Figure 3. When ordinary unfair dismissal protection starts, by length of service, before and after 1 January 2027
How to readThe axis is an employee's length of service, from their first day to two years. Grey means no ordinary unfair dismissal protection; green means protected. The amber band is the group newly brought into protection: those with between six months and two years' service.
Change and figure: Employment Rights Act 2025; Employment Rights Act 2025 Economic Analysis (gov.uk, Jan 2026). The written-reasons qualifying period also falls to six months on the same date. Checked 12 July 2026.
Reach, for your workforce
Does this touch a business like yours?
Not every measure reaches every employer. The universal changes (sick pay, family leave, tribunals, harassment, unfair dismissal, fire and rehire) apply whatever your size or contract mix. Others switch on only for specific shapes of business: the guaranteed-hours and shift-notice reforms for anyone using zero-hours or agency workers, the mandatory pay-gap and equality action plans for the largest employers.
Set the shape of a business below and the list re-sorts to show which of the tracked measures apply and which fall away. Nothing is submitted or stored; this runs entirely in your browser.
Set a workforce shape
Headcount band
Contract types in use
7 of 9 tracked measures apply to a business like this
Universal measures always apply. The guaranteed-hours and action-plan measures switch on with your contract mix and size.
Applicability follows the Act and the government implementation timeline. This is general information, not legal advice. For a dated, personalised action list, use the free checker or the full report.
Why the timing matters
The stakes are rising as the claim window widens
Two of the changes make the employment tribunal more central: from 1 October 2026 the time limit to bring most claims doubles from three to six months, and from 1 January 2027 the cap on unfair dismissal compensation is removed. They land into a system already under strain. Ministry of Justice figures show single claims arriving far faster than they are resolved, and a backlog that keeps growing.
In the quarter to December 2025, tribunals received 13,000 single claims but disposed of only 5,700. Receipts were up 54% on the same quarter a year earlier, the highest level since 2012 to 2013, and the open caseload reached 58,000.
Figure 4. Single employment tribunal claims received versus disposed, per quarter (Ministry of Justice)
How to readEach pair of bars is one quarter: claims received (darker) against claims disposed of (lighter). When received sits well above disposed, the backlog grows. The number above each pair is the open caseload at the end of that quarter.
Single claims received
Single claims disposed of
Source: Ministry of Justice, Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, October to December 2025 (gov.uk). Figures rounded by MoJ. Checked 12 July 2026.
Method and honest caveats
How this was built, and what it does not claim
Every population figure on this page is taken directly from a named government, ONS or Ministry of Justice publication. We have not modelled, projected or estimated any headline number ourselves. Where a figure is a government estimate, we say so and use the government's own wording ("up to", "around").
- The three headline populations count different things and cannot be added together. Unfair dismissal (6.3 million) counts employees; guaranteed hours (up to 2.4 million) and zero-hours (1.17 million) count workers, a slightly broader category; sick pay (up to 1.3 million) counts previously ineligible employees. A single person can appear in several.
- The 6.3 million is the government's estimate of employees brought into scope by moving the qualifying period from two years to six months. The earlier day-one proposal would have covered a larger group, roughly 9 million, but that proposal was defeated in the House of Lords and is not law.
- The guaranteed-hours figure and the 2027 dates are indicative. The threshold for "low hours" (the government's stated preference is 8 to 20 hours a week) and the reference period (preference 12 weeks) are still being consulted on, with the consultation closing 25 August 2026. Treat those as movable until the regulations land.
- The Act applies across the United Kingdom and does not vary by region or nation, so there is no meaningful geographic breakdown to map. The variation that matters here is by measure, by date and by workforce shape, which is what the charts show.
- Zero-hours counts come from the ONS Labour Force Survey and are a survey estimate; they reflect people who describe their main job as being on a zero-hours contract, which understates people on such contracts in a second job.
Sources, each checked 12 July 2026
- Employment Rights Act 2025 Economic Analysis, government (January 2026): the 6.3 million figure for the six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period. gov.uk impact assessments.
- Employment Rights Act 2025 Statutory Sick Pay factsheet, government: up to 1.3 million lower-paid employees newly eligible for SSP. Acas, Employment Rights Act 2025 corroborates the 6 April 2026 date.
- Government zero-hours contracts and guaranteed-hours materials: up to 2.4 million workers in scope; consultation on threshold and reference period closes 25 August 2026. gov.uk.
- ONS, people in employment on zero-hours contracts (EMP17, released November 2025): 1.17 million in 2025, a record high, up from 1.03 million. ONS EMP17.
- ONS, earnings and employment from PAYE Real Time Information (December 2025): 30.2 million payrolled UK employees, used as the comparison base. ONS labour market.
- Ministry of Justice, Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, October to December 2025: 13,000 single claims received, 5,700 disposed, 58,000 open, receipts up 54% year on year. gov.uk tribunal statistics.
- The Employment Rights Act 2025 itself. legislation.gov.uk.
This is an independent educational analysis, not affiliated with or endorsed by any government department, the Fair Work Agency or Acas, and not legal advice. The 2027 measures are still being finalised; re-check an indicative figure before you act on it.
See which of these lands on your desk, and when
The charts above show the national picture. The free checker filters the whole rollout to your headcount and contract mix in seconds, and the £19 report turns it into a dated action list you can print and hand over.