The biggest set of employment-law changes in a generation is arriving in stages. Here is what is already in force, what changes on 1 January 2027, and what is still to come — kept clearly apart so you know what applies today.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is an enacted statute, but it is not switched on all at once. Individual measures are brought into force by commencement regulations on a published implementation timetable, which the government updated in September 2026. That staged approach is exactly why precision matters: a provision being in the Act is not the same as it being in force, and treating a not-yet-commenced measure as a current obligation is the most common mistake employers make with it. This guide separates the three states clearly.
A number of measures are already operating in 2026. Statutory sick pay is now payable from the first day of sickness, and the lower earnings limit for SSP has been removed, widening who qualifies. Paternity and parental leave became day-one rights. Employers must keep annual-leave (holiday) records for at least six years. Protective awards for collective-redundancy failures were extended. And a new enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency, was established in April 2026 to bring together enforcement of a range of employment rights. From 1 October 2026, employment-tribunal time limits also extended from three to six months, and third-party harassment liability was widened. See the 2026 changes guide.1
The headline change lands on 1 January 2027: the ordinary unfair-dismissal qualifying period falls from two years to six months. Note the precise position — it becomes a six-month qualifying period, not a day-one right, contrary to how it is sometimes described. Also expected around that point, dismissal-and-rehire (“fire and rehire”) becomes automatically unfair in most cases. These are not in force yet; until commencement, the current rules continue to apply. The change to the qualifying period in particular means dismissal process and records matter for far more of your workforce than before. See the 2027 changes guide.2
Further measures are in the Act but await commencement, with dates still to be confirmed. These include new rights for zero-hours and low-hours workers (guaranteed hours, notice of shifts and cancellation payments), the removal of the cap on unfair-dismissal compensation, mandatory action plans(such as on gender pay and menopause), statutory bereavement leave, stronger pregnancy and maternity protections, and expanded umbrella-company regulation. Because these are not yet operative, they should be treated as planned changes to prepare for, not current duties — the safe wording is “expected” and “when in force,” never “you must now.”
Employment law is largely devolved to Northern Ireland, so a good deal of this reform applies to Great Britain and not automatically to NI — the ordinary unfair-dismissal qualifying period in Northern Ireland, for example, differs. If you employ people in Northern Ireland, check the NI position separately rather than assuming the GB timetable applies.
Beyond the headline items, several other measures took effect during 2026: protective awards for collective-redundancy failures were capped at 180 days’ pay (a doubling of the previous limit); sexual harassment was recognised as a qualifying disclosure for whistleblowing protection; electronic balloting for industrial action was permitted; and employers were enabled to publish voluntary gender-pay and menopause action plans ahead of these becoming mandatory later. Taken together, 2026 was about day-one rights, wider protection and stronger enforcement — the full detail is on the 2026 changes guide.
A recurring source of confusion is the gap between an Act being passed and a provision being operative. The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent, but most of its substantive measures come into force only when the government makes commencement regulations setting a date — often with transitional provisions and, for the bigger changes, statutory codes of practice or consultation first. That is why the same reform can be simultaneously “the law” and “not yet in force,” and why a responsible summary always attaches a status and a date to each measure rather than lumping them together.
Even where individual dates are still to be confirmed, the direction is clear and worth planning around: more rights becoming day-one rather than service-dependent; greater protection for lower-paid, flexible and vulnerable workers; and stronger, more joined-up enforcement through the Fair Work Agency. Employers who organise their contracts, policies, training and records now — rather than reacting measure by measure — will find each commencement far less disruptive.
The practical response is preparation, not panic. Know which state each change is in — in force, 1 January 2027, or later — and brief managers accordingly. Tighten dismissal process and record-keepingahead of the shorter qualifying period, since more employees will be able to claim. Make sure the records you already have to keep — holiday records, contracts, right to work, sickness — are in order and retained for the right period. And keep the language in your own policies and comms accurate about what applies now versus what is coming. See employment records employers must keep.
A few misreadings of this reform are widespread and worth naming. It is not true that “unfair dismissal becomes a day-one right” — it becomes a six-month qualifying period from 1 January 2027. It is not true that “everything in the Act is now law” — most measures depend on commencement regulations and several are still awaited. And it is not true that the timetable applies uniformly across the UK — much of it is Great Britain only, with Northern Ireland separate. Getting these distinctions right is the difference between preparing sensibly and either over-reacting or missing a change.
In outline: 2026 brought day-one sick pay and family leave, six-year holiday records, the Fair Work Agency, a higher collective-redundancy award cap, wider harassment and whistleblowing protection, and longer tribunal time limits. 1 January 2027 brings the six-month unfair-dismissal qualifying period and makes fire-and-rehire automatically unfair in most cases. Later in 2027, and on dates still to be confirmed, come zero-hours rights, removal of the compensation cap, mandatory action plans, bereavement leave, NDA limits and umbrella-company regulation. Each is covered in depth on the 2026 and 2027 guides.
Almost every employer is touched by some part of this reform, but the weight falls unevenly. Organisations with large or flexible workforces feel the zero-hours and scheduling changes most; those that hire frequently feel the day-one rights and the shorter unfair-dismissal period most; and those in lower-paid or labour-supplysectors sit squarely in the Fair Work Agency’s focus. Mapping which measures bite hardest for your workforce is the first step to a proportionate response.
This guide is an overview to help you plan, not legal advice. For the authoritative position, Acas provides employer guidance and a helpline, GOV.UK publishes the implementation detail, and the legislation itself is on legislation.gov.uk; for a specific decision — a dismissal, a contract change, a redundancy — take professional legal or HR advice. Complys helps you keep the records and evidence behind those decisions; it does not make them for you or replace that advice.
Complys is the records and readiness layer for all of this: it holds contracts, policies, holiday and other required records, training and worker documents in one place, with reminders and a readiness view, so that as each measure comes into force you can show what you did. It does not give legal advice, decide whether a dismissal is fair, or guarantee compliance — those are your decisions, with professional advice where needed. Explore employment compliance software.
1 Plain-English summary, not legal advice; the reform is being implemented in stages and dates can change. Sources: Acas — Employment Rights Act 2025 and Employment Rights Act 2025 (legislation.gov.uk). 2 Unfair-dismissal qualifying period reducing to six months from 1 January 2027; confirm against current government guidance and commencement regulations. Reviewed 26 September 2026.
