UK Employment Law Reform

The latest developments, details and anticipated timings of key employment law reforms.

Explore our Reform Hub to stay ahead of the curve.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces the most significant package of reforms to workplace legislation in a generation, representing a major shift for employers.

Our ‘At a Glance’ guide gives employers an overview of what’s changing, the timings for implementation and general steps on how to prepare.

Navigating the hub

In this hub, we keep track of all the latest developments for key employment law reforms in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (‘ERA 2025‘) and the Government’s wider Plan to Make Work Pay, including implementation timings. We will continue to update the hub as developments come through.

Delve into the details of the key reforms by clicking on the headings to the left.

This hub is a summary only and is not legal advice, if you have any questions in respect of how the information in this hub could impact your business, please get in touch with us.

Most reforms in the ERA 2025 apply to England, Wales and Scotland (although a limited number of provisions extend to Northern Ireland). Please note that this hub does not include plans in respect of Northern Ireland, as employment law matters are devolved to Northern Ireland (who is considering its own employment law reforms).

On 3 February 2026 the Government published an updated timeline for implementation – we are updating our hub and resources.

This hub was last updated on 19 February 2026.

Employers Checklist

The proposed changes to employment law in the Employment Rights Bill and in wider reforms planned as part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay are, taken as a whole, the most significant package of employment law reforms in a generation. To help employers start preparing for change we have created a checklist, which looks at both early considerations employers can take now, and future actions as the details of the reforms are implemented.

Key Developments

This reform hub covers changes anticipated both in the ERA 2025 and in the Government’s wider Plan to Make Work Pay, as explained below.

ERA 2025

Described as phase one of the Plan to Make Work Pay, the ERA 2025 completed its final stages in Parliament on 16 December 2025 and received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025.

The ERA 2025 had a long and eventful journey through Parliament and expanded significantly from the bill’s original iteration (almost doubling in size) with new reforms being added until the very end. For example, in a surprise last-minute change, the Government dropped its plan to introduce day one unfair dismissal rights, instead agreeing to reduce the current qualifying period from 2 years to 6 months and removing the compensation cap for unfair dismissal – a major change to the law that could fundamentally change how employers approach recruitment and dismissal.

Apart from some early trade union measures which came (or will shortly come) into force automatically under the ERA 2025, the majority of measures will need to be brought into force by commencement regulations. Also, for many reforms, the ERA 2025 simply provides the framework, with much of the detail still to be fleshed out by secondary legislation, codes of practice and guidance. Consultations to inform this detail are also underway with more anticipated soon. Revised impact assessments were also published on 7 January 2025.

Changes under the ERA 2025 are set to take effect in phases. The Government published an early version of a roadmap to implementation back in July 2025 (including a planned programme of consultations). This has now been superseded by an updated timeline setting out when measures will take effect. The timeline states that it focuses on the changes being introduced in 2026 and that the Government will continue to work towards the timetable set out in the roadmap for measures being introduced throughout 2027. It also notes that the timings will continue to be kept under review as the Government consultants and develops the details of policies. The Government also published a suite of simple resources on 3 February 2026 (see here).

Therefore, details of reforms and their implementation timings will become clearer (and more certain) as regulations and further guidance are published. Timings in this hub are based on the new timeline, and we will continue to monitor developments and update the hub for changes.

Other employment reforms beyond the ERA 2025

Reforms are also underway or anticipated in addition to the ERA 2025, as part of the Government’s phased plan:

Some reforms are being delivered via existing powers, and non-legislative routes, such as changes to National Minimum Wages.
Changes in respect of pay and tax were also announced in the Autumn Budgets 2024 and 2025 (see here).
Additional reforms are promised via the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which is still awaited.
Longer-term reforms (such as to worker and employment status) are also promised but the Government recognises that these will take longer to undertake and implement.

Separately, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (‘DUA Act’) passed on 19 June 2025, containing reforms in respect of data privacy and AI that, although not necessarily linked to the Plan to Make Work Pay, may be of interest to employers. We discuss aspects of the DUA Act relevant to employers in brief in the Data Privacy and AI page. The DUA Act, however, is not included in the Timings etc part of this reform hub.