As you know, when Labour took power they made some radical proposals to change employment law in favour of the employees.  This was mainly under the Employment Rights Bill. There were several changes proposed which included changes to day one employment rights, changes to redundancy consultations, day one paternity and unpaid parental leave rights, the scrapping of zero hours contracts and changes to sexual harassment law to name but a few.  

 A couple of weeks ago, the Government laid out its “road map” in relation to the proposed changes and although it has still not been completely finalised, they have confirmed when they expect the new changes to take effect.  

The following measures are set to come into place in April 2026:

  • Collective Redundancy Protective Awards will be doubled.  
  • There will be a day one right for paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. 
  • Statutory sick pay – there will no longer need to be a waiting period of three days and there will be a removal of the lower earnings limit. 

The following is set to take place from October 2026:-

  • Restrictions on the practice of ‘Fire and rehire’. 
  • Tightening up of tipping law for the hospitality industry. 
  • Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.  
  • The law, which was changed in October 2024 in relation to sexual harassment will now mean that employers must take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment to their employees. 
  • Introduction of the requirement for employers to prevent sexual harassment of their employees by third parties.  
  • Further protection for trade union representatives 
  • Extending the employment tribunal time limit from its current three months to six months.  

There are proposals that are set to take place in early 2027, which include:

  • Employers must have a gender pay gap and menopause action plan.  
  • Additional rights for pregnant workers.  
  • Changes to the collective consultation threshold.  
  • Changes to the way in which employers must deal with flexible working applications.  
  • Introduction of a new statutory bereavement leave policy.  
  • Changes to the use of zero hours contract.  
  • Day one right or employees not to be unfairly dismissed. This is going to be in line with the ‘statutory probationary period’ (which has still yet to be defined but 9 months has been discussed).  

On the basis of this, we would recommend that businesses review their policies in relation to:

  • Probation periods. 
  • Sexual harassment. 
  • Redundancy. 
  • Flexible working. 
  • Tipping (for those in the hospitality industry). 
  • Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave policies. 

These changes could be quite sweeping for employers and therefore we would recommend that you speak to one of our team to help you with the process.  

For our current clients, we will be guiding you through the changes and amending policies where necessary.  

Please feel free to drop us a message and we are happy to have a chat with you if you need any further help.