Top 10 HR priorities for 2026  

What should employers be doing to prepare for upcoming changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA)?

Following Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, certain reforms under the Act will take place in February and April 2026, with other measures subject to further consultation and secondary legislation prior to implementation. As at the date of publication of this article, the Government is still working to the timetable set out in its July 2025 Roadmap, but note that future timings may slip.

1. Develop your 2026–27 implementation plan for the ERA 2025

The ERA 2025 introduces the biggest overhaul of UK employment law in a generation, with a staged roll out across 2026 and 2027. Headline reforms include strengthened trade union rights, day one family rights, statutory sick pay reform, significant restrictions on the ability for employers to ‘fire and rehire’, increased penalties for failing to consult on collective redundancies, and important changes to unfair dismissal.

Use our Employment Rights Act 2025 summary table to help create an implementation plan for your organisation in line with the Government’s roadmap.

Actions for HR

• Map each measure under the Act against your current policies, systems, templates and staff training.

• Track future consultations and commencement regulations.

2. Prepare for strengthened trade union and industrial action rules (February 2026 onwards)

Minimum service level requirements for key public services during industrial action have already been repealed under the Act. From 18 February 2026, simplified balloting and shorter notice periods for industrial action will apply, and protections against dismissal for taking part in industrial action will be strengthened. The Government has published guidance on the transitional arrangements applying in respect of these changes, and the trade union factsheet provides more details of the reforms under the Act.

April 2026 is expected to see the introduction of electronic workplace balloting and statutory trade union recognition reforms. From October 2026, trade unions will have a new statutory right of access to workplaces for defined purposes, and employees will have the right to be provided with a written statement of their right to join a trade union. Trade union officials and representatives will also have enhanced rights to time off and workplace facilities.

For those employers who do not currently recognise a trade union for collective bargaining purposes, changes intended to simplify the statutory trade union recognition process are likely to make it easier for trade unions to gain compulsory recognition. In sectors where this is considered a risk, employers may want to consider securing voluntary recognition agreements before these changes take effect, which can often be negotiated on more favourable terms than those imposed under the statutory process. Alternative forms of employee engagement and representation may be something to consider introducing if these are not already in place.

Actions for HR

• Review employee relations strategies.
• Prepare for compliance with new rights of access and provision of a statement of trade union rights.
• Prioritise maintaining dialogue with any recognised trade union and make contingency plans for dealing with the potential threat of industrial action.
• Consider securing voluntary recognition agreements or introducing alternative mechanisms for employee engagement and representation.

3. Day one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave (April 2026)

From April 2026, statutory paternity leave and (unpaid) parental leave become day one rights for employees, with no minimum service requirement. Note, entitlement to receive statutory paternity pay will still require a minimum service of 26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. 

In addition, the current restriction on taking paternity leave following a period of shared parental leave will be removed, giving new parents greater flexibility over the timing of their chosen periods of leave.

The Government is also currently undertaking a review of the entire parental leave system, meaning that further changes could be on the horizon.

Actions for HR

• Revise family friendly policies to reflect day one entitlements to leave.
• Train line managers on handling requests for leave, including planning cover as required.

4. Implement SSP reforms (April 2026)

Statutory sick pay (SSP) will be payable from day one of any period of sickness absence, and the lower earnings limit will be removed, meaning a wider category of employees will be eligible, and employers will have an increased liability for paying SSP. SSP will be payable at either the flat weekly rate or 80% of normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

Actions for HR/Payroll

• Update payroll systems to start SSP on day one and remove the lower earnings limit threshold.
• Amend sickness absence policies and monitor absence levels to address any problematic absence patterns.

5. Statutory rates and national minimum wage increases (April 2026)

The annual uprating of SSP and statutory family leave pay entitlements, and minimum wage increases will take effect from April 2026. Update budgets and annual pay review schedules as required.

See our recent update for details of the new rates.

6. Prepare for collective redundancy changes (April 2026)

From April 2026, the maximum protective award for breaches of collective consultation obligations will double from 90 to 180 days’ gross pay per employee. This will significantly increase the financial risks of non-compliance, meaning that careful and comprehensive forward-planning of redundancy and restructuring programmes will be crucial.

Later in 2026, following consultation, a second threshold for triggering collective consultation obligations will apply based on total redundancies across the whole employing entity, not just a single establishment; details will be set out in regulations. 

Actions for HR

• Educate senior managers on triggers, timelines and scope of collective consultation requirements (including restructures and contractual changes regarded as ‘redundancy’ under collective consultation rules).
• Strengthen governance for HR1 notifications, timetables and consultation records to mitigate the risk of high awards.

7. Strengthened harassment prevention – including third party liability (expected October 2026)

The ERA 2025 introduces a strengthened statutory duty on employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment, plus a new liability for third party harassment. This makes it even more important for employers to be able to show evidence of proactive harassment prevention.

In addition, from April 2026, sexual harassment disclosures will be added as an extra category of ‘qualifying disclosure’ for the purpose of whistleblowing protections. As a result, workers will have a further legal mechanism for pursuing a claim for sexual harassment.

Actions for HR

• Conduct a harassment risk audit (including customer-facing and contractor environments) and implement appropriate and targeted controls.
• Update policies and provide training for all staff on the new protections; train managers on dealing appropriately with harassment complaints.
• Keep records of what steps you have taken in order to demonstrate compliance. (Note, the Act also includes the power to introduce new regulations to specify the steps required to establish that an employer has taken ‘all reasonable steps’).

8. Restrictions on fire and rehire (expected October 2026)

Dismissals linked to the refusal of employees to agree to substantial contractual changes, referred to as ‘fire and rehire’, will become automatically unfair save for a very limited ‘severe financial hardship’ exception. The restrictions will also apply where the employer is seeking to employ or engage another employee, or to re-engage the employee under a varied contract of employment to carry out substantially the same role. The current Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement will be updated to reflect these new restrictions.

Employers will need to be able to show that financial difficulties were affecting their future viability and that the need to make contractual changes was unavoidable, in order to avoid the risk of a finding of automatic unfair dismissal.

Actions for HR/Legal

• Consider taking urgent action in advance of these restrictions coming into effect, subject to complying with collective consultation obligations and the Code of Practice, where contentious contractual changes are anticipated.
• Review contracts of employment and incorporate flexible provisions to limit the need to make contractual changes.

9. Review recruitment and probationary procedures ahead of unfair dismissal changes (expected 1 January 2027)

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal is expected to reduce from two years to six months, and the compensatory award cap for successful unfair dismissal claims will be removed. It will affect all staff with a minimum of six months’ service by 1 January 2027, including those recruited on or before 1 July 2026.

Employers should use the first half of 2026 to tighten recruitment and induction procedures, performance management and probation reviews, so dismissal decisions are made well within six months.

The removal of the compensatory cap might serve to incentivise more senior and highly paid employees to bring claims for unfair dismissal, meaning that employers should ensure fair dismissal processes are followed in respect of these staff.

Actions for HR

• Standardise probation reviews and documentation; train managers on early performance and conduct interventions.
• Update senior exit risk assessments and settlement strategies for the post cap environment.

10. Zero hours protections and the right to guaranteed hours (expected 2027)

Zero hours and casual workers (including agency workers) will be given the right to be offered a ‘guaranteed hours contract’ reflecting the hours worked over a reference period, which will be set out in separate regulations (expected to be 12 weeks). Additional rules requiring reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for late changes or cancellations will mean significant changes to rostering and workforce planning for sectors using a high volume of casual and zero-hours staff.

While the exact details of these changes will be subject to consultation and separate regulations, employers should consider an early audit of zero hours and casual staff and follow developments closely to be in the best position to respond to these changes.

Actions for HR

• Audit your use of zero hours and casual contracts; identify roles most likely to trigger predictable pattern requests.
• Look out for the publication of the consultation on proposals for implementing these new rules and follow future developments.

ERA 2025 checklist

Policy audit – update policies to reflect these reforms (including family leave, sickness absence and harassment policies and procedures).

Systems changes – configure HR software and payroll for day one SSP and family rights.

Templates – review contracts to adjust probation periods and sick pay provisions; amend family leave notices.

Training – train managers on management of probation periods and sickness absence; ER teams on union reforms; workforce on harassment obligations.

Governance – track future consultations and confirmed commencement dates once regulations are laid.