UK: Roadmap for UK Employment Reforms
Authors: Frances Ross and Charlotte Stern
We now have more information about the planned timetable for upcoming consultations and when the key measures will take effect. One of the most significant proposals is to make unfair dismissal a ‘day one’ right. This change has been pushed back to 2027, but other reforms will take effect earlier. Some of the key dates are below but a fuller timetable is here.
From April 2026:
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): SSP will be payable from the first day of absence and available to all employees regardless of their earnings
- Paternity Leave and unpaid Parental Leave: allowing employees to take these forms of leave from day one of employment
- Collective redundancies: doubling the maximum period of the protective award from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay.
From October 2026:
- Employment Tribunal time limits: extending the time limit for employees to claim against their employer from 3 to 6 months
- Preventing sexual harassment: requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment
- Fire and re-hire: restrictions on dismissal and re-engagement as a means of making contractual changes (fire and re-hire)
From 2027:
- Unfair dismissal: day one unfair dismissal rights
- Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans
- Collective redundancy consultation: new trigger for collective redundancy consultation obligations
- Zero hours: new rights for zero and low hours contract and agency workers
The government has also published a wide-ranging review of parental leave and pay entitlements. You can read more about that in our detailed article.
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel
The current timetable gives employers more time to prepare for some key changes such as ‘day one’ unfair dismissal rights.
We’ll continue our regular briefings and support employers with preparing for the changes ahead.
