Key Summary
- Employment Rights Bill to be implemented in phases, giving employers the time and certainty they need to adapt.
- Roadmap outlines timelines for delivery, ranging from soon after the Bill is passed to April 2026, October 2026 and 2027.
- Government will continue to consult with employers, workers and trade unions.
The government has on Tuesday (1 July) unveiled its roadmap setting out how it will deliver its new package of workers’ rights.
Landmark changes delivered through the Employment Rights Bill including sick pay for up to 1.3 million of the lowest earners and day one rights to parental and paternity leave will be introduced for the first time from early next year.
It also announced that the new Fair Work Agency will launch from early next year, creating a level-playing field so rogue employers cannot undercut good businesses who comply with the law.
The government said a phased approach was taken, informed by more than 190 pieces of engagement with businesses and other stakeholders over the last 12 months, to give workers clarity and employers time to prepare.
Key measures in the Bill will come into effect in 2026 and 2027, whilst further consultations are planned from this year into next.
“We’re working fast to deliver our promise of better living standards and more money in the pockets of working people as part of our Plan for Change,” deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said.
“These landmark reforms will kick in within months, demonstrating our commitment to making work pay for millions of workers across the country and delivering real change.”
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds added: “Since the beginning, we have been working with businesses big and small to ensure this Bill works for them, and this roadmap will now give them the clarity and certainty they need to plan, invest and grow.
“By phasing implementation, our collaborative approach balances meaningful worker protections with the practical realities of running a successful business, creating more productive workplaces where both employees and employers can thrive.”
The government said it will continue to consult with business groups, employers, workers and trade unions in phases on the detail of the measures, beginning this summer and continuing into the new year.
Highlights of the roadmap
After the bill is passed:
- Immediate repeal of the strikes (minimum service levels) act 2023 and the majority of the trade union act 2016 to create a better relationship with unions that will prevent the need for strikes.
- Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action to ensure workers can defend their rights without fear of losing their jobs.
April 2026:
- Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award to provide stronger financial security for workers facing mass redundancies.
- ‘Day one’ paternity leave and unpaid parental leave to support working families from the very start of employment.
- Whistleblowing protections to encourage reporting of wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.
- Fair work agency established to enforce labour rights and promote fairness in the workplace.
- Statutory sick pay – removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period
- A package of trade union measures including simplifying trade union recognition process and electronic and workplace balloting to strengthen democracy and participation in the workplace.
October 2026:
- Ending unscrupulous fire and rehire practices to protect workers from being forced into worse terms under threat of dismissal.
- Regulations to establish the fair pay agreement adult social care negotiating body in England to raise standards and pay in the social care sector.
- Tightening tipping law - strengthen the law on tipping by mandating consultation with workers to ensure fairer tip allocation.
- Requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees to create safer, more respectful workplaces.
- Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties to extend protections to all work environments, including public-facing roles.
- A package of trade union measures including new rights and protections for trade union representatives, extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action and strengthening trade unions’ right of access.
2027:
- Gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026) to promote gender equality and support women’s health in the workplace.
- Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers to safeguard job security during pregnancy, maternity leave and a return-to-work period.
- Further harassment protections, specifying reasonable steps which will help determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment to provide clearer guidance and stronger enforcement against harassment.
- Creating a modern framework for industrial relations to build a fairer, more collaborative approach to workplace relations.
- Bereavement leave to give workers time to grieve with job security.
- Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts to provide workers with stable hours and predictable income.
- ‘Day 1’ right to protection from unfair dismissal to ensure all workers are treated fairly from the start of employment.
- Improving access to flexible working to help people balance work with family, health, and other responsibilities.
Full details of the implementation roadmap are available here.
‘Waves of disruptive changes’
Responding to the government’s roadmap, Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said more than nine in ten small employers are already seriously concerned about the Bill, and the 28 new measures have not yet been improved during the legislative process.
“Today's timetable sets out when waves of disruptive changes will now hit small employers in the coming months,” McKenzie commented.
“The clock is now ticking, and without listening to proposals from business to improve these reforms, the changes simply add complexity and risk to new hiring and existing employment.”
Warning that conflict and costs on small employers will escalate, she added that there is nothing in the announcement to help create growth or achieve 80 per cent employment.
“It’s a lot for small employers to take in – from changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), unfair dismissal and how zero hours contracts work – and they don’t have HR teams to help them navigate the complex changes,” McKenzie said.
“Putting plans to expand unfair dismissal from day one back to the tail end of this whole process shows the government realises just how complicated and difficult it is. But there’s no two ways about it; all it’s going to do is make small employers more reluctant to recruit and fearful of being open to vexatious claims. It will also open up a tribunal system already at breaking point to a flood of spurious cases. This will increase the denial of swift and fair justice to far more people.”
She cautioned that it’s those furthest from the jobs market who will then suffer, because the less risk small employers can afford to take, the fewer second chances, fresh starts and first jobs they’ll be able to offer.
“A practical way forward would be creating a dedicated route outside the tribunal system, handled by the new Fair Work Agency that will now launch next Spring. This would give employees a place to raise concerns while protecting small firms from being pushed into legal action before probation is even complete,” McKenzie noted, urging the government to work with small employers, fix the flaws and make sure that any new measure brought in actively encourages growth, rather than impeding it.
“[The] timetable also now confirms the date for much larger SSP payments to come in, in April next year. That makes the coming Autumn Budget the key moment to bring in a rebate for small employers, allowing them to manage rising costs and easing the pressure when staff need to take time off when they’re sick,” McKenzie suggested.
British Retail Consortium (BRC) welcomed the publication of the roadmap, particularly the clarity it provides around timescales for consulting on and implementing various policies within the Employment Rights Bill, while calling for “quality engagement” with the large employing sectors where implementation will have significant consequences.
“Retailers remain concerned about some of the proposals,” Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said.
“The industry has lost 350,000 jobs since 2015. Currently provisions around guaranteed hours in particular could threaten the availability of local flexible part-time jobs. 1.5 million of the 3 million people in retail currently work part-time, which allows them to work as much or as little as they need, and to balance work with their other life commitments.
“We look forward to engaging with Government and other stakeholders to ensure effective solutions are designed to address these concerns so the Bill tackles the unscrupulous employers, without penalising responsible ones and actually delivers benefits for retail employees.”