The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. It is the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in a generation — the centrepiece of the government’s Make Work Pay agenda.

The Act introduces new day-one rights for employees, reforms Statutory Sick Pay, restricts fire-and-rehire practices, and creates a new enforcement body called the Fair Work Agency. It applies to all UK employers, with no exemptions for small businesses.

What Has Changed So Far? (April 2026)

• Day-one SSP — Statutory Sick Pay is now payable from the first day of absence. The three-day waiting period is abolished. All workers qualify regardless of earnings.
• Day-one parental leave — Employees can take Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave from their first day of employment.
• Holiday pay records — All employers must keep detailed leave and holiday pay records for six years. Failure is a criminal offence.
• The Fair Work Agency — A new enforcement body launched in April 2026, with powers to inspect workplaces, issue penalties and support employee claims.
• Sexual harassment — The employer duty to prevent harassment is strengthened to require ‘all reasonable steps’, including liability for third-party harassment by customers or clients.

What’s Coming Next?

• October 2026 — The unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from two years to just six months. Fire-and-rehire becomes automatically unfair in most cases. Tribunal time limits double to six months.
• 2027 — Zero-hours workers gain the right to guaranteed hours offers. Flexible working refusal rules tighten. New bereavement leave rights are introduced.

Useful link: Full GOV.UK ERA 2025 guidance | Acas ERA 2025 guidance