How to prepare for October Employment Rights Act changes

Written by Emma-Louise Hewitt, partner at Sydney Mitchell and head of the firm’s Employment Law team

Businesses should be preparing now for a further raft of employment law changes coming into force in October 2026, an employment lawyer has warned.

The changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) include an extension to the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims, new trade union rights and obligations, and stronger duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. The Government is introducing the reforms in stages, with some measures already in force and further changes taking effect throughout 2026 and 2027. The next significant changes for employers are due in October 2026.

What is changing?

Increase to Employment Tribunal time limits

From 1st October 2026, the time limit for bringing the majority of Employment Tribunal claims will increase from three months to six months, giving employees and workers longer to bring claims.

The new time limit applies where the act or omission complained of falls on or after the 1 October 2026. Combined with the extension of the ACAS Early Conciliation period to 12 weeks (in effect from December 2025) employers now face a significantly longer window of exposure.

So, events that once fell out of time may generate claims many months later. Owing to this extended period, it is of vital importance that employers keep written records of meeting notes, correspondence, policies and clear evidence of how decisions were made.

There is a specific exception in Scotland for breach of employment contract claims, where the extended time limit will apply from 9th November 2026.

Strengthened sexual harassment prevention duty

Further changes to workplace sexual harassment protections will also take effect from 30 October 2026.

Employers will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. This strengthens the existing duty, introduced in October 2024, which requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

New third party harassment liability

For the first time, employers will face standalone liability for harassment by third parties of their employees. This will include where a customer, client, supplier and/or contractor harasses an employee or worker in the course of their employment and the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. This duty relates to all forms of harassment, not just sexual harassment.

In addition, the Government will have the power to make further regulations specifying evidence-based steps employers must take to prevent sexual harassment. These measures will complement, rather than replace, the broader duty to take all reasonable steps.

Trade union access, recognition and the right to join

A number of changes to trade union rights and employers' obligations will take effect from 30 October 2026. These include:

• A new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union and how to do so;

• Stronger rights for independent trade unions to access workplaces and communicate with workers both in person and digitally;

• Reforms to the recognition and derecognition processes, including provisions relating to the bargaining unit;

• Enhanced rights and protections for trade union representatives; and

• Extended protection against detriment for workers taking protected industrial action.

Some aspects of the new trade union access arrangements and associated codes remain subject to Parliamentary approval.

Employers will need to look at their onboarding process to ensure that the trade union information is included.

What’s coming next: January 2027 and beyond

October 2026 is not the end of the road. A further tranche of reforms is due from 1 January 2027, with others expected later in the year. Employers who plan ahead now will be in a far stronger position.

Unfair dismissal qualifying period drops to six months

From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims falls from two years to six months. Employees with at least six months’ continuous service on that date gain protection immediately, meaning that this applies to anyone hired from around 1 July 2026 onwards.

Government analysis estimates that roughly 6.3 million employees will benefit. The cap on unfair dismissal compensation is also being removed, so claims will now be uncapped.

Fire and rehire restrictions

Also from 1 January 2027, dismissing an employee for refusing changes to core contractual terms such as pay, hours, shift patterns, pensions or holiday, becomes automatically unfair, except in very narrow circumstances of genuine severe financial difficulty. This applies from day one of employment.

Zero-hours and low-hours reforms

Later in 2027 (date to be confirmed), workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts will gain a right to a guaranteed-hours offer, based on their average working pattern, plus rights to reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for short-notice cancellations.

What employers should do now

With the October changes approaching, employers should consider taking the following steps.

1 Prepare for longer Employment Tribunal time limits

The extension of the limitation period means employers may need to manage potential claims over a longer period. Businesses should:

• Review document retention and record-keeping arrangements to ensure relevant records are retained for an appropriate period;

• Ensure that grievances, disciplinary matters and workplace disputes are dealt with promptly and consistently;

• Keep clear records of workplace incidents, including relevant dates, times, individuals involved, actions taken and detailed rational for decision making;

• Ensure consistency between employment contracts, policies, HR records and other employee documentation;

• Review and tighten your probation and performance management processes; and

• Retain appropriate records of employees’ roles, responsibilities and relevant workplace activities.

Employers should also ensure that managers understand the importance of accurate and simultaneous record-keeping.

2 Strengthen sexual harassment prevention measures

Employers should review their existing approach to preventing sexual harassment and consider whether they can demonstrate they are taking all reasonable steps to prevent it. This should include:

• Reviewing and updating sexual harassment policies;

• Carrying out appropriate risk assessments;

• Providing regular and effective training for employees and managers;

• Ensuring employees know how to report concerns and how complaints will be handled;

• Considering the risks presented by customers, clients, contractors and other third parties with whom employees interact; and

• Ensuring managers understand their responsibilities when concerns or incidents are raised.

Employers should focus not simply on having policies in place, but on being able to demonstrate that those policies are implemented and effective in practice.

3 Third party harassment

Given the stand-alone liability, employers need to ensure they take all reasonable steps to prevent employees or workers from being harassed in the course of their employment. This is particularly relevant for customer facing hospitality, retail, events and agency worker settings. So, employers should:

• Include third party harassment scenarios in training

• Consider visible signage in public facing areas

• Ensure staff know how to report and escalate

• Update policies and procedures

• Carryout risk assessments

• Review terms of business with customers, suppliers, contractors and client’s; and

• Ensure that managers know how to deal with any complaints raised.

4 Prepare for new trade union obligations

Employers should familiarise themselves with the new trade union framework and prepare for the additional obligations coming into force from 30 October 2026. Actions should include:

• Reviewing onboarding and employment documentation to ensure the new information requirements can be met;

• Preparing processes for providing workers with information about their right to join a trade union;

• Considering how the new workplace access rights could operate in practice;

• Briefing managers on the changes to trade union recognition and derecognition processes;

• Reviewing arrangements for trade union representatives and time off for trade union duties; and

• Ensuring managers understand the strengthened protections relating to industrial action.

Employers should also monitor the publication of further government guidance and the final versions of the relevant codes of practice.

5 Review contracts, policies and procedures

More broadly, employers should continue to review their employment contracts, HR policies and workplace procedures against the changes being introduced under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The October measures form part of a much wider programme of employment law reform, with additional significant changes expected in 2027, and so the advice to businesses is to ensure that employment law compliance is kept under regular review.

Further changes to come

The Government continues to consult on and develop further measures under its Plan to Make Work Pay.

It is worth noting that the government’s implementation roadmap has shifted on more than one occasion, so we recommend keeping specific dates under review. That said, the direction of travel is clear, and the pace of reform is accelerating.

Businesses should keep up to date with the latest implementation timetable and guidance, as the precise timing and detail of some measures remains subject to further legislation, consultation and parliamentary processes.

The latest Government guidance on the Employment Rights Act and upcoming employment law changes, as well as links to currently live consultations relevant to further changes to ERA, are available through the Government's guidance.