The Employment Rights Bill: What employment law changes are coming and what you need to know

The UK government has introduced the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), described as the most significant upgrade to workplace rights in a generation. While these changes aim to support workers, they also place new obligations on businesses, which could come with significant cost if not implemented.

For small businesses and HR professionals, understanding these changes is crucial. Key updates include:

✅ Unfair dismissal rights from day one – Previously, employees needed two years’ service before they could claim unfair dismissal. The bill proposes to make it a day-one right, making structured probationary processes more important than ever.

Note that it does refer to probationary periods being between 3 & 9 months.

✅ Changes to zero-hours contracts – While not banned, employers must now offer guaranteed hours contracts to certain workers after a certain length of service. This affects anyone on low-hour contracts or agency work, with specifics yet to be defined.

Workers will also have the right to reasonable notice of changes to shifts or working hours, which includes compensation proportionate to the notice.

✅ Strengthened redundancy protections – Collective redundancy consultations will now apply across the entire business, not just at individual sites. This means employers must carefully manage any restructuring.

Currently, employers with multiple sites can avoid the collective consultation rules by counting their employees as only those on a particular site. This ruling means the entire organisational size must be factored in. This means more collective consultations.

✅ Flexible working as the default – All employees already have the right to request flexible working from day one. This makes it the expected default position of an organisation to offer flexible working; unless it is justifiably not feasible.

Remember flexibility can come in many forms. It doesn’t always just mean working from home. Flexibility might be working different hours, adjusting hours to different patterns, allowing certain time off in specific circumstances which is flexibly recovered.

✅ Tackling workplace harassment – Employers must already take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, including harassment from third parties such as customers or suppliers. This came into law in October 2024. The ERB emphasises this and extends to third party harassment. We are also potentially going to see an update to the Health & Safety at Work Act - something established in 1974 - which will also add emphasis on the prevention of sexual harassment.

Paternity Leave & Parental Leave - becomes a day one right.

Bereavement Leave - currently two weeks for the death of a child under 18 only. The bill allows one week for other bereavements.

SSP - Payable from day one, and the removal of the lower earnings limit.

Equality Action Plans - companies over 250 employees will be required to produce an Equality Action Plan that shows how they look to tackle steps like gender pay gaps, supporting menopause and push for gender equality.

Further changes to tip allocation - requirements to consult with employees, unions and ensure policies are reviewed

Creation of negotiating bodies - for adult social care workers and school support staff, to ensure fair pay and conditions as well as a fair work agency made up of a representative body of people with powers to inspect workplaces and enforce employment rights - much like HSE, I imagine.

Unions - repealing all major trade union legislation and reforming it to include unions having rights to reasonable workplace access, employers being required to provide information on unions to employees and simplification of various rules

These changes mean more responsibility for employers—but also an opportunity to build stronger, fairer workplaces. Is your business ready? These changes are expected to start to take effect in April 2026.

👉 Need support navigating these changes? Oxford People Solutions can help.