Where is the Bill currently?
At the time of writing (early July 2025) the Employment Rights Bill ("the Bill") has nearly completed its passage through the House of Lords, with the Report stage scheduled to start on 14 July. This will then be followed by a Third Reading before it returns to the House of Commons for consideration of amendments. If all amendments are agreed, the Bill can receive Royal Assent. However, as the House of Common's summer recess is due to begin on 24 July, it is unlikely that Royal Assent will be given until some time after the House returns on 1 September 2025.
The implementation roadmap
On 1 July 2025, the UK Government published a timetable for implementation of the Bill - Implementing the Employment Rights Bill - Our roadmap for delivering change ("the Roadmap"). Because much of the Bill sets out the policy intentions of the UK Government, the detail of how many measures will work in practice will be consulted upon and then set out in secondary legislation and regulations. The Roadmap sets out proposed timescales for both consultation on and implementation of many of the measures.
Consultation timetable
It is intended that, following consultation, the UK Government will develop their final policy positions to deliver the measures. This may be by regulation, guidance or Codes of Practice. In some cases, more than one round of consultation may be required. The consultation timetable is set out below.
Summer/Autumn 2025
- Reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body
- Fair Pay Agreement for the Adult Social Care Sector
- Day 1 protection from unfair dismissal including on the dismissal process during the statutory probation period
Autumn 2025
- Fire and rehire
- Regulation of umbrella companies
- Bereavement leave
- Rights for pregnant workers
- Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts
- Trade union ("TU") measures including:-
- Electronic balloting and workplace balloting
- Simplifying the TU recognition process
- Employer's duty to inform workers of their right to join a TU
- TU right of access to the workplace
- New rights and protections for TU reps will be included in an Acas Code of Practice consultation
Winter 2025/early 2026
- Collective redundancy
- Tightening tipping law
- Flexible working
- TU measures including protection against detriments for taking industrial action and blacklisting
Implementation timetable
The date that the changes to employment law are expected to be implemented are set out below.
At Royal Assent or soon after
- Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Repeal of the vast majority of the Trade Union Act 2016
- Removal of the 10-year ballot requirement for trade union political funds
- Simplifying industrial action notices and industrial action ballot notices
- Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action
April 2026
- Doubling the maximum period of the collective redundancy protective award
- Day 1 Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
- Whistleblowing protections
- Fair Work Agency body established
- SSP - removal of the lower earnings limit and waiting period
- Simplifying TU recognition process
- Electronic and workplace balloting
October 2026
- Fire and rehire
- Bringing forward regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating body
- Procurement - two tier code
- Tightening tipping law
- Duty to inform workers of their right to join TU
- Strengthen TU rights of access
- Requirement to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees
- Introducing the obligation on employers not to permit harassment of employees by third parties
- New rights and protections for TU reps
- Employment tribunal time limits
- Extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action
December 2026
- Commencement of Mandatory Seafarers Charter
2027
- Day 1 protection from unfair dismissal
- Ending exploitative use of zero hours contracts, and applying zero hours contracts measures to agency workers
- Gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026)
- Rights for pregnant workers
- Introduction of powers to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as "reasonable" when determining whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
- Blacklisting
- Industrial relations framework
- Regulation of umbrella companies
- Collective redundancy - collective consultation threshold
- Flexible working
- Bereavement leave
Implementation of the gender pay gap outsourcing measure will be dependent on broader changes to pay gap reporting, including measures in the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
Comment
While the Roadmap is subject to change, the UK Government has reiterated its commitment to allowing time for employers, workers, trade unions and other stakeholders to prepare in advance of the changes. Many of the significant changes, including the day 1 right to protection from unfair dismissal will not take effect before 2027, giving employers more time to prepare. In the meantime, we will highlight when the relevant consultations open and close - this is an opportunity for businesses to have a say in how the practical implementation of these new rights could work.
