When did the Employment Rights Act 2025 become law?

It received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Most of it only takes effect when commencement regulations bring each part into force, which is why the changes arrive between 2026 and 2027.

Are small businesses exempt?

No. None of the changes in this timeline has an exemption based on headcount. The mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans planned for 2027 are expected to apply only to larger employers.

Which dates are certain?

Dates set by commencement regulations are law — 6 April 2026, 1 October 2026, 30 October 2026 and 1 January 2027 for unfair dismissal. Dates that come only from the government roadmap can move, and several already have.

Does the Act apply in Northern Ireland?

The SSP changes were made for Northern Ireland as well (sections 12 and 13). Most other employment changes in the Act apply in Great Britain only; Northern Ireland has its own employment law.

ERA 2025 timeline for small employers

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest change to UK employment law in a generation, and it does not arrive on one day. Each part waits for commencement regulations, and the government has moved several target dates since its first roadmap in July 2025. For a business with a handful of staff, the useful question is simple: what do I have to have done by when?

This guide lists every change that touches a small employer, in date order, and separates three kinds of date: changes already in force, changes whose date is fixed in law, and changes that are only pencilled in.

The timeline at a glance

In force
Date fixed in law
Pencilled in — no commencement order yet

How to read the dates

The Act itself mostly says that its sections come into force “on such day as the Secretary of State may by regulations appoint”. So a date is only certain once a commencement instrument (a statutory instrument, “S.I.”) has been made. Up to 25 October 2026 there were six:

Instrument	Made	What it commenced for employers
S.I. 2026/3 (No. 1)	5 January 2026	Day-one paternity and parental leave from 6 April 2026
S.I. 2026/323 (No. 2)	16 March 2026	Whistleblowing on sexual harassment, protective award, holiday records, Fair Work Agency
S.I. 2026/373 (No. 3)	2026	SSP reform from 6 April 2026
S.I. 2026/559 (No. 4)	2026	Unfair dismissal after 6 months from 1 January 2027
S.I. 2026/954 (No. 5)	1 September 2026	Six-month tribunal time limits from 1 October 2026
S.I. 2026/1065 (No. 6)	1 October 2026	Sexual harassment duties from 30 October 2026

Everything else in this guide comes from the government’s timeline update (last updated 22 October 2026) or Acas, and is marked as planned.

Already in force

6 April 2026: sick pay from day one

Statutory Sick Pay lost its three unpaid waiting days and its lower earnings limit (it was £125 a week in 2025/26). A single day off sick now counts as a period of incapacity for work, and the weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of the employee’s average weekly earnings. This is the change most small employers notice first, because short absences now cost money and link together. See SSP changes April 2026 and the linked-absences calculator.

6 April 2026: day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave

Paternity leave (one or two weeks) and unpaid parental leave (18 weeks per child up to their 18th birthday) no longer need any length of service. Statutory paternity pay still needs 26 weeks’ service by the 15th week before the baby is due and average earnings of at least £129 a week. The full list is in day-one rights.

6 April 2026: holiday records kept for six years

A new regulation 16B in the Working Time Regulations 1998 requires records adequate to show you complied with annual leave, holiday pay and pay-in-lieu rules, kept for six years. Not keeping them is an offence. It was barely publicised, so many small firms have not adapted.

6 April 2026: smaller changes

Reports of sexual harassment can be protected whistleblowing disclosures.
The maximum protective award for failing to consult on 20 or more redundancies doubled to 180 days’ pay, for dismissals from 6 April 2026.
The Fair Work Agency opened on 7 April 2026, combining minimum wage enforcement and other enforcement bodies; holiday pay and SSP enforcement are planned to follow.

1 October 2026: six months to bring a tribunal claim

Most employment tribunal claims now have a six-month time limit instead of three, where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026 (Scottish breach of contract claims from 9 November 2026). Former staff have longer to claim, so keep dismissal, grievance and absence records for longer.

Fixed in law and coming

30 October 2026: all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment

The duty to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees, which has applied since October 2024, becomes a duty to take “all reasonable steps”. Employers also become liable for harassment by third parties such as customers unless they took all reasonable steps. See the sexual harassment duty for small firms.

1 January 2027: unfair dismissal after six months

For any employment ending on or after 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal is six months, not two years. The cap on the compensatory award goes, and the right to written reasons for dismissal also starts at six months. Anyone with six months’ service on 1 January 2027 is protected from that day. See unfair dismissal qualifying period changes and the qualifying date calculator.

Planned, without commencement orders

Change	Target	What it will mean
Fire and rehire limits	March 2027 (GOV.UK); Acas says January	Dismissing someone for refusing a cut to pay, hours or leave becomes automatically unfair, with a narrow financial-difficulty exception
Statement of union rights	1 January 2027	A written statement telling workers they can join a union
Tipping policy consultation	1 January 2027 (GOV.UK); Acas says by end of 2026	Consult staff on the tipping policy and review it every 3 years
Flexible working	October 2027	Refusals must be reasonable and explained
Bereavement leave	April 2027	Unpaid leave, including pregnancy loss
Guaranteed hours	No date yet (timing under consultation)	Offers of guaranteed hours, shift notice, pay for cancelled shifts
Pregnancy and new mothers	October 2027	Tighter limits on dismissal
NDAs	September 2027	Clauses that silence harassment or discrimination claims become void

These can move. The fire and rehire changes, for example, were originally expected in October 2026.

A practical order of work

Catch up on what is already law: payroll SSP settings, the sickness policy, family leave policy, and holiday records.
Before 30 October 2026: an anti-harassment policy that covers customers, a short risk assessment and training.
Before 1 January 2027: list every employee’s protection date and set probation reviews well ahead of it.
Through 2027: update contracts and policies as each set of regulations is published.

Wallchart’s business plan tab turns this into a dated checklist with calendar reminders.

ERA 2025 timeline for small employers

The timeline at a glance

Apr 2026

May–Sept 2026

Oct 2026

Nov–Dec 2026

Jan 2027

Feb–Dec 2027