Historic Act will transform employment rights landscape

The Act, which received royal assent last month, immediately repealed the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. This controversial minimum services legislation, which was never used and which was vigorously opposed by trade unions, gave employers powers to compel striking workers back to work in health and other critical sectors by issuing ‘work notices’.

The other provisions of the Employment Rights Act will come into force in the next two years. In April, paternity and parental leave will become a ‘day one’ right, and statutory sick pay will be paid from the first not the fourth day of illness.

More reforms will be introduced in October 2026—the end of ‘fire and rehire’ policies, employer liability for harassment from third parties, tipping laws, and employment tribunal limitation extending from three months to six months.

In January 2027, the law will change to protect employees from unfair dismissal after six months instead of the current two years.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak described the passing of the Act as ‘a landmark day for millions of workers’.

The government said the Act would allow 32,000 more dads and partners each year to take paternity leave and 1.5m more parents to take unpaid parental leave, while up to 1.3 million low-paid employees would now be able to take sick days thanks to statutory sick pay reforms, and up to 2.7 million employees a year would gain a right to bereavement leave.

However, James Townsend, partner at Payne Hicks Beach, said: ‘At a time where employers are already facing ever-increasing numbers of claims, rather than re-balancing the existing framework by placing further burdens on business, the government would have been better focused on modernising dispute resolution practices to cut current delays in cases being heard and re-introducing industrial juries, which were previously abolished in favour of judges sitting alone in the majority of cases.

‘Making a sensible reversal of earlier government policy on industrial juries would have brought back workplace reality and common sense to the employment tribunal system.’