Piers Kingsley
The UK's Employment Rights Bill (ERB) received Royal Assent on the 28th of December 2025, and is expected to take effect in the stages, starting from early 2026 through to 2027. For HR leaders, the ERB represents the biggest overhaul of workplace rights in a generation. Here's what's changing, when and the practical steps you can take now.
At a glance, the headline reforms
Zero-hours and one-sided flexibility: new rights to guaranteed hours that reflect actual work patterns; reasonable notice of shifts; compensation for short-notice changes and cancellations; protection from dismissal for asserting these rights.
Unfair dismissal and probation: The Government’s original intent was to make unfair dismissal protection a day-one right, but the latest round of amendments has since changed the qualifying period from the current two-years to six-months.
Sick pay and bereavement leave: statutory sick pay (SSP) extended to more low-paid workers and day-one access to parental leave and other family-friendly rights.
Harassment prevention duty: a new positive duty on employers to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent workplace harassment. Moving away from reactive to proactive compliance.
Trade union access and information: new duties to inform workers of their right to join a union with stronger access rights and enforcement architecture.
Tribunal time limits doubled: Time to bring most claims increased from 3 to 6 months, with significant implication ion dispute resolution and risk provisioning.
Timeline: What HR Should expect (and when)
2026
- Implementation of many zero-hours/guaranteed-hours measures
- Harassment prevention duty comes into force with guidance on "reasonable steps"
- Tribunal time limits move to 6 months for most claims
- Family-friendly policy expansion
2027
- Final stages of reforms complete. The Government roadmap anticipates the six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection combined with statutory probation measures to come into force in 2027, presuming the Commons prevails over Lords’ amends.
Four big impacts HR leaders need to plan for
1) Contract architecture will change
- Introduce contracted-hours baselining that tracks actual worked hours and auto-offers higher guarantees after a defined reference period
- Build a probation framework with clear performance standards, lighter-touch procedure, extension rules and documentation to preserve fairness
- Update family leave clauses for day-one eligibility and modernised definitions.
Do now checklist
- Map roles using zero-hour contracts
- Draft new contract templates, including guaranteed-hours variants, casual and short hours with compliant scheduling and compensation terms and probation clauses aligned with emerging regulations.
2) Scheduling and cost of short notice
- Policies must defined "reasonable notice" for shifts and specify cancellation payment tiers (e.g., within 48 hours, within 24 hours)
- Budget for predictability pay and monitor managers' rota practices
- Train schedulers on the new dismissal protections for asserting scheduling rights.
Do now checklist
- Audit last 6-12 months of rota changes, simulate compensation exposure
- Add approval thresholds for short-notice changes, surface cost dashboards to line managers.
3) A proactive harassment prevention duty
- Move from policies-on-paper to evidence of preventative steps: risk assessments, leadership training, bystander interventions, safe reporting pathways and supplier/venue controls for third-party harassment.
- Expect a definition of "reasonable steps" and potential
Do now checklist
- Conduct a harassment risk assessment, refresh training (for managers and employees)
- Implement anonymous reporting and case tracking, documenting interventions and outcomes
- Extend your new proactive policies and controls to agency/third-party environments
4) Disputes, time limits and tribunal readiness
- With 6-month claim windows, internal resolution timelines should tighten, with a greater focus placed on early resolution.
- Anticipate higher claim volumes due to extended limits and broadened rights.
- Strengthen your mediation and settlement playbooks, budget for longer liabilities.
Do now checklist
- Introduce 30/60/90 day review gates for grievances and disciplinaries.
- Upskill HRBPs on early neutral evaluation; pre-agree settlement authority bands
- Track data on issues by site/managers to target prevention.
Which sectors are at particularly exposed?
Hospitality, retail, health and social care face the biggest operational impact from the ERB given the prevalence of zero-hour contracts.
Conclusion
The Employment Rights Bill is not a tweak, it’s a system reset. Organisations that move early on contracts, scheduling, prevention duties and dispute strategy will avoid a cliff-edge of compliance and costs shocks, all while building trust with their workforce.
The sweeping changes of the ERB offers a checkpoint to assess and realign other HR policies. Rather than seeing it as a compliance task to be overcome, approach it as an opportunity to refine and streamline your entire HR policy approach.