News and views

The Employment Rights Bill 2025 is expected to receive Royal Assent in the autumn, marking a major milestone in the UK’s employment law landscape.
Once enacted, the Bill will introduce a series of significant measures aimed at strengthening worker protections and modernising workplace rights. For businesses, this means new legal obligations, operational changes and the need to prepare well ahead of commencement dates.

Key measures in the Bill

While commencement dates will be set out in due course, businesses should be aware of the headline reforms expected to come into force over the next year:

• Stronger rights to flexible working
• Improved rights for irregular hour workers
• Extension of family-friendly rights
• Restrictions on 'fire and rehire'
• Unfair dismissal a day one right
• Increased liabilities for employers to prevent harassment
• Stronger enforcement and creation of Fair Work Agency

What businesses will need to do

The Bill’s provisions will be phased, but companies should start preparing early to avoid disruption when they take effect. Practical steps include:

• Reviewing and updating employment contracts and handbooks to reflect new rights and entitlements
• Adjusting HR processes to handle flexible working and predictable working requests from day one
• Updating policies and procedures on redundancy and parental leave
• Training line managers and HR teams to ensure consistent handling of new rights and requests
• Strengthening record-keeping and compliance monitoring to mitigate risk of disputes or enforcement action
• Communicating upcoming changes to employees and in a clear, structured way

Timescales and next steps

• Royal Assent – expected imminently, after which commencement orders will follow
• Implementation – different measures are expected to be rolled out over the next 6–12 months, with transitional guidance to support employers
• Further regulations – secondary legislation and official guidance will provide additional clarity on operational requirements

Ensure your company is ready...

Our 2-hour online course on the Employment Rights Bill is designed to help businesses understand the key changes, assess their impact and prepare effectively.

Book your place now to get ahead of the changes and ensure your organisation is ready when the new rules take effect.