Just to keep you posted as promised, the Government have now published their long awaited indicative timetable for the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill and our friends at DLA Piper have summarised the plan for us, at a glance:
Measures that will take effect at Royal Assent or soon afterwards include:
- Repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Repeal of the great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016 (some provisions will be repealed via commencement order at a later date)
- Removing the 10 year ballot requirement for trade union political funds
- Simplifying industrial action notices and industrial action ballot notices
- Protections against dismissal for taking industrial action
Measures that will take effect in April 2026 include:
- Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award
- ‘Day 1’ paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
- Whistleblowing protections
- Fair Work Agency body established
- Statutory Sick Pay – remove the Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period
- Simplifying trade union recognition process
- Electronic and workplace balloting
Measures that will take effect in October 2026 include:
- Fire and rehire reforms
- Bringing forward regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body
- Procurement – two-tier code
- Tightening tipping law
- Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
- Strengthen trade unions’ right of access
- Requiring employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees
- Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties
- New rights and protections for trade union reps
- Employment tribunal time limits
- Extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action
Measures that will take effect in 2027 include:
- Gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026)
- Rights for pregnant workers
- Introducing a power to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as ‘reasonable’, to determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
- Blacklisting
- Industrial relations framework
- Regulation of umbrella companies
- Collective redundancy – collective consultation threshold.
- Flexible working
- Bereavement leave
- Ending the exploitative use of ZHCs and applying ZHC measures to agency workers
- ‘Day 1’ right – protection from unfair dismissal
Implementation of the gender pay gap outsourcing measure will be dependent on timelines for broader changes to pay gap reporting, including related measures in the draft Equality (Race & Disability) Bill.
The Government have also produced a timetable of consultation before any of the above comes into law, which we hope will be fully utilised.
