UK Employment Rights Act 2025: October’s employment law reforms – what employers need to know 

Authors: Stephen Miller, Sophie Jackson and Charlotte Stern 

 A significant package of Employment Rights Act reforms is now taking effect, extending Employment Tribunal claim deadlines, strengthening harassment protections and introducing new trade union access rights. 

The first change took effect on 1 October 2026, when the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increased from three to six months. The extension only applies to claims arising from acts or omissions occurring on or after 1 October 2026, meaning employers will need to navigate two different limitation periods for some time. The longer period to bring a claim may mean more time before employers can be confident that a dispute will not lead to a claim. 

A further package of reforms takes effect on 30 October. Employers will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment, while new protections will create potential liability for harassment by third parties such as customers, clients, contractors and suppliers. At the same time, trade unions will gain new statutory rights to seek physical and digital access to workplaces, including where the employer does not recognise a union. These changes form part of the Government’s wider agenda of strengthening worker protections and collective workplace rights. 

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-house Counsel 

With these reforms now taking effect, the focus should shift from preparation to implementation. HR and legal teams should ensure document retention and case management processes reflect the longer Employment Tribunal limitation periods and review whether anti-harassment policies, training, reporting channels and workplace risk assessments are capable of meeting the higher “all reasonable steps” standard, particularly in customer-facing environments and other settings involving regular interaction with third parties, where existing anti-harassment measures may need strengthening. 

Employers should also ensure there is a clear process in place for handling trade union access requests. Watch our short video update for more information.