Looking Forward to October 2026: Next Phase of Changes under the UK Employment Rights Act 2025:
Panorama Global – UK
The next phase of significant reforms under the UK Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA 2025”) is expected in August and early October 2026, which includes introducing wide-ranging trade union provisions, enhanced duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, and potential liability for harassment by third parties, among other changes.
In this article, we set out the key changes for August and October, which employers should start preparing for now.
In addition to these significant upcoming changes, employers should also prepare for further reforms in January 2027 – notably the changes to unfair dismissal laws (to reduce the current qualifying period for protection against “ordinary” unfair dismissal from 2 years to 6 months and removing the compensation cap) and to fire and rehire/replace.
In detail:
urrently, employers are under a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees and workers in the course of their employment. From October 2026 this will be increased to a requirement to take “all reasonable steps.”
Employers will need to take all steps that it is reasonable for them to take in the circumstances, and what this constitutes will depend on the specific circumstances of the employer, such as their size, sector and other relevant factors. Future regulations may specify what steps an employer must take, but unhelpfully for employers these are not expected until well after the new laws come into force. Existing guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), however, gives examples of what steps are likely to be required based on the current duty (such as risk assessments, action plans, policies, reporting and complaints procedures and training).
By way of a reminder – failure to comply does not lead to a standalone claim, but if an individual brings a claim against their employer for sexual harassment then it can lead to a 25% uplift in compensation awarded by a tribunal. The EHRC could also take enforcement action against an employer.
Key actions for employers: To prepare, employers should undertake or update (as appropriate) their risk assessments and action plans to ensure they are taking all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before the law comes into force. Employers will need to ensure all reasonable steps are taken (which may include updating anti-harassment policies and complaints-handling procedures, training for managers and employees on the enhanced duty and more). Compliance should be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
The Government has indicated that it plans to introduce electronic and workplace balloting for Statutory Trade Union Ballots in August 2026 (such as ballots for industrial action – which are currently held by post). A draft code of practice was consulted upon earlier this year (see the response here), and the Government published a revised draft of the Code and a draft Order on June 22, 2026 for Parliamentary approval. This is more likely to affect employers who currently recognise a union.
However, beyond this, more significant trade union related measures are coming in October 2026 which could affect employers regardless of whether or not they currently engage with unions:
- Obligation on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union – A written statement informing workers of their right to join a union must be provided when the worker receives their section 1 statement of terms and conditions of employment, and at other prescribed times. Further detail is awaited, which will address the form and content of the statement, how it should be delivered and when it should be reissued.
- A new broad right for trade unions to request access to workplaces – The new statutory right will allow trade unions to request access to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers and to facilitate collective bargaining. “Access” includes both physical entry to the workplace and communication with workers by any means, including through digital channels. There will be a structured process for access requests and agreements with set timeframes for each stage. Significant fines (up to £500,000 for repeated breaches) can be issued by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for non-compliance. Although the final code of practice is awaited following a recent consultation, it seems there will be only limited exceptions to this new right, such as for micro-employers who have less than 21 employees. See our recent article here.
- A new package of rights and protections – The trade union reforms also include new rights of access to facilities, enhanced time off rights for trade union and learning representatives, and new paid time off and access to facilities for trade union equality representatives. The ERA 2025 will also enhance protections for workers against detriment for taking protected industrial action and strengthen the unfair practices regime in the recognition and derecognition process.
These are significant changes, which may lead to an increase in workers’ awareness of trade unions and to an increase in the level of union membership. We may also see more proactive steps being taken by trade unions to enter sectors where they have not traditionally had a presence. Employers who may not have previously had to engage with unions may have to plan for the fact that they may start doing so.
Key actions for employers: Employers should start preparing now by considering their overall industrial relations strategy and employee engagement, identifying how physical and digital access could be facilitated in practice and identifying key stakeholders who will need to understand the new requirements in order to respond swiftly in the event of a new access request.
Employment Tribunal Time Limits
Time limits for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims will increase from three to six months. The Government has indicated that this reform will take effect no earlier than October 2026.
Key actions for employers: Extended tribunal time limits should be considered when handling employee relations and dispute resolution strategies.
Employers will be required to consult with either recognised trade union or workers’ representatives or (where there are no representatives) workers directly affected by tipping policies before preparing a first draft policy and when reviewing such policy every three years. Employers will also be required to make an anonymised summary of the views expressed in the consultation available to all workers where it applies.
Key actions for employers: Affected employers should review and amend their processes
The Government plans to reinstate and strengthen the two-tier workforce code to ensure that where public services are outsourced, direct hires of the contractor are not treated less favourably than transferring public sector workers (and vice versa). The Government will do this through regulations and a statutory code of practice.
Key actions for employers: Employers who undertake work outsourced from the public sector should review their contracts and update these with any prescribed provisions (once known via regulations) and ensure compliance with the two tier-code.
Next Steps:
The October 2026 changes include some of the more significant changes in the ERA 2025 for most employers. Implementation of these measures is still reliant on secondary legislation, and we are continuing to monitor updates to track commencement details and transitional provisions.
However, employers should consider taking steps now to proactively prepare, including policy and contract reviews, HR and manager training, strategic planning and compliance risk reviews to ensure the business is ready to navigate the changes.
