What is the Employment Rights Act?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 focuses on improving working conditions and giving employees, including your staff members, more say around the decisions that affect them.
The act became law on 18 December 2025 and its implementation is happening in phases over a 2-year period. This means that the changes will come into effect at different times (see below for a timeline).
The act includes changes to:
- Employee pay
- Time off work
- Employee dismissal
- Zero-hours contracts
- Workplace handling of issues such as sexual harassment
- Trade union rights and industrial action
From 7 April 2026, the Fair Work Agency (FWA) is responsible for enforcing workers' rights, combining former enforcement bodies into 1 single agency. It has the power to inspect, investigate and penalise workplaces that don't uphold workers' rights, including paying them the national minimum wage.
Expected in 2027, the government will also establish a School