Employment Rights Bill 2025: The Government’s Roadmap
On 1st July, the Labour government published its “Roadmap” or timetable for the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill 2025, one of the most significant updates to employment law in the last decade.
The Roadmap is has been published to provide employees, employers, trade unions and other stakeholders with more information on when consultations for key aspects of the Bill will take place and, perhaps more importantly, when the proposed changes will likely come into law.
What is included in the Employment Rights Bill 2025?
In a previous article we commented on the significant changes that the Employment Rights Bill 2025 will bring to workplace and employment law. The proposed changes are significant and cover a wider range of employment rights and laws from strengthening trade union rights, to providing more with earlier access to paid leave (including but not limited to statutory sick pay and various forms of parental leave), to stricter rules over the implementation of zero hours and casual contracts of employment to unfair dismissal protections from the start of employment.
Due to the volume of changes to the law, the government’s Roadmap is a useful and timely document to allow all interested parties time to prepare for the changes.
What are the expected timescales for the bill?
At present the Employment Rights Bill 2025 is in its reporting stage. The Roadmap explains that consultations will continue over the summer, autumn and winter of 2025 and the early months of 2026. Key areas under consultation at present include employees having unfair dismissal protection from day one of employment, statutory probationary periods, changes to the use of zero hours contracts and flexible working.
Stage One:
The government has confirmed that from April 2026, the first tranche of employment law changes will come into force, which include:
- The extension of the collective redundancy protective award cap (doubling the maximum period)
- ‘Day 1’ rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
- Enhanced whistleblowing protections
- Establishment of the Fair Work Agency
- Reform of Statutory Sick Pay, including removal of the Lower Earnings Limit and waiting days
- Streamlined trade union recognition.
Stage Two:
October 2026 will see the next tranche of changes from the Employment Rights Bill 2025, which will include:
- A ban on the practice of firing and re-hiring
- The duty of employers is to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. At present, the employers have a responsibility to take “reasonable steps” but not “all”.
- Increases to employment tribunal limitation periods
- A tightening up of tipping laws
- The introduction of obligations on employers to not permit harassment of their employees by third parties.
Stage Three:
Following the Roadmap some of the most significant changes will come into force in 2027 (the Government have not yet stated when in 2027). The changes from the Employment Rights Bill 2025 include:
- The day 1 right to protection from unfair dismissal
- Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans (voluntary from April 2026)
- Increased rights for pregnant workers
- An extension to bereavement leave
- New rules aiming to ban exploitative zero hour contracts
- Umbrella company regulation
The 2027 changes are significant and will have a transformative effect on the workplace.
What should employers do to prepare for these changes?
Now is the time for employers to assess current contracts of employment, policies and procedures to determine what changes may be required. Training of key members of management and HR is also recommended to allow as smooth a transition as possible when the changes come into effect.
If you need help reviewing your employment polices and handbooks, then GA’s employment law team can provide advice at every step. We can also review these for you.
Our employment law solicitors in Plymouth have years of experience and are even recognised in The Legal 500. You can be assured you are in the best possible hands. Call 01752 203500 or email me directly via robert.zacal@GAsolicitors.com.
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