On 1 July 2025, the UK government published a policy paper – effectively a roadmap – which provides some clarity on the periods of consultation and phases of implementation of the proposed reform under the ERB – some of which is not proposed to take effect until 2027. Although subject to change, it is a helpful chronology in determining an employer's priorities, given the proposed staggered approach.
The government has confirmed that it will produce clear and comprehensive guidance in advance of the various implementation deadlines to help employers navigate the changes.
If you would like to see the roadmap in full detail, click the link.
In this update, we will focus in more detail on four key areas:
- Trade union matters, specifically industrial action and statutory union recognition
- Diversity, equality, and inclusion, in relation to non-disclosure agreements
- Fire and re-hire
- Unfair dismissal
Trade union & industrial relations matters
The ERB is set to implement the largest changes to the industrial relations landscape in the UK for decades.
Industrial action
In relation to the amendments to the law on industrial action, there are six core reforms:
- Strike notice – the required notice period for unions to inform employers of upcoming industrial action is being reduced from 14 days to 10 days. This is a compromise from the earlier proposal to reduce it further to 7 days.
- Strike mandate – the validity of a ballot mandate for industrial action will extend from six to twelve months, which is designed to reduce the need for frequent re-balloting.
- E-balloting – the current practice for balloting is via post. Subject to consultation, it is proposed to amend this to include e-balloting, with email being the preferred method.
- Information requirements – unions will no longer be required to disclose breakdowns of voters by workplace or category in industrial action notices.
- Ballot turnout thresholds – the existing 50% voter turnout requirement (and 40% support thresholds in public sectors) are to be removed. This will allow strikes to proceed with a simple majority of those voting.
- Protection – additional industrial
action protections have been proposed. These are as follows:
- Minimum service requirement – the government will repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 by removing the minimum service requirements in sectors like health, transport, and education and prohibiting employer-imposed 'work notices'.
- Worker protection – workers will have enhanced protections during strikes. This includes the strengthening of the protection against detriment and dismissal.
- Agency workers – the original position will be restored, making it clear that it is unlawful for agency workers to replace strikers.
- Secondary strikes – there is the potential to allow secondary ("sympathy") industrial action which would reverse existing bans on this.
Changes to statutory union recognition
The government believes that the current statutory recognition process makes it too difficult for a union to gain recognition. The proposed statutory amendments include:
- There will be a presumption of automatic recognition if a union has a majority membership in the bargaining unit. As a result, a ballot will no longer be necessary unless there are exceptional circumstances.
- There were previous discussions that the 10% minimum initial membership requirement to submit a recognition application should be reduced to 2%. The government has decided to remove the 2% reduced threshold proposed and instead they are proposing to grant the Secretary of State the power to lower the 10% threshold without specifying a minimum percentage.
- Employers will no longer be able to dilute or manipulate bargaining unit boundaries to block recognition. The focus will be on the union's proposed bargaining unit.
- There is an introduction of a 20-working-day window after Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) recognition for the employer to agree on union access to the workers in the bargaining unit. This is a significant development. The CAC have power to impose binding access agreements.
- Employers will have to allow reasonable access to accredited union officials. They must broaden union access to now include digital platforms, with statutory penalties for non-compliance.
How should employers prepare for this?
Employers should act now in the lead up to these proposals being implemented, likely in April 2026. Proactive preparation is essential. Delays or missteps could trigger automatic recognition or CAC enforcement.
Helpful tips for employers include:
- Auditing your current workforce engagement policies
- Identify at-risk sites/ work locations where union activity may escalate
- Train managers on new union access rights, agreement and behaviours
- Review communication and employee engagement protocols and practices
- Establish a pre-emptive response plan for potential union recognition applications
Diversity, equality and inclusion
- Day-one rights to Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave
- In October 2026, the anticipated changes include:
- The requirement for employers to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of their employees; and
- The requirement for employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties.
It will not be until 2027 that we will see:
- A mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans – these will be introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026;
- Increased rights for pregnant workers; and
- The expected changes to flexible working and bereavement leave.
Non-disclosure agreements
A new clause 22A has been inserted into the ERB which states:
"22A Contractual duties of confidentiality relating to harassment and discrimination
(1) Any provision in an agreement between an employer and a worker of the employer (whether a worker's contract or not) is void in so far as it purports to preclude the worker from making—
- an allegation of, or a disclosure of information relating to, relevant harassment or discrimination, or
- an allegation, or a disclosure of information, relating to
the response of an employer of the worker to—
- relevant harassment or discrimination, or
- the making of an allegation or disclosure within paragraph (a)."
This amendment would mean that any provision within an agreement between an employer and a worker is void if it precludes the employee from making allegations or disclosures about harassment or discrimination. This would include settlement agreements.
Interestingly, as the ERB is currently drafted, the new provision only covers discrimination and harassment allegations and does not apply to failure to make reasonable adjustments or victimisation. However, it does cover the response of the employer to an allegation or disclosure so a confidentiality provision could potentially cover victimisation in some instances. Time will clarify whether this position will change or not.
The aim of this amendment is to protect workers who suffer from workplace harassment or discrimination. Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner stated: "We have heard the calls from victims of harassment and discrimination to end the misuse of NDAs. It is time we stamped this practice out – and this government is taking action to make that happen. The Employment Rights Bill will ban any NDA used for this purpose, so that no one is forced to suffer in silence."
A consequence of this proposal may be that employers may be less inclined to agree to settlement packages with workers, if they cannot include such confidentiality provisions. This may, in turn, lead to a rise in Employment Tribunal claims.
This amendment was not included on the roadmap and so it is uncertain when it will come into effect.
Fire and rehire
The term 'fire and rehire' refers to where an employer dismisses an employee and then rehires them on new contractual terms – also known as dismissal and re-engagement.
There were initially bold changes proposed in this area which would effectively ban the practice of fire and rehire except for very limited circumstances.
The Bill's initial amendments would have made it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to agree to a change in contractual terms.
Following the government consultation on this topic, the proposed ban on fire and rehire has been amended so it is proposed to only take effect where an employer is imposing a 'restricted variation'. The list of restricted changes to a contract include pay, pensions, working hours, and holidays.
A further consultation will be held in Autumn 2025 to discuss further.
How should employers prepare for this?
We would encourage employers to consider the applicability of reform in this area to your business. It is advisable to consider your organisation's contractual position now and consider whether any issues should be tackled prior to any changes taking effect, given that it will be much more difficult to make changes after that point.
Unfair dismissal
When the government first released the Bill's amendments to the law on unfair dismissal, they proposed to make unfair dismissal a day-one right. This meant that an employee could claim unfair dismissal from day-one of their employment and would no longer have to wait two years before benefitting from this protection.
If implemented, this change would allow approximately nine million additional employees to claim unfair dismissal which would have had an astronomical impact, leading people to question how this would work in practice.
Initially, a statutory probationary period of nine months (during which a simplified process would apply) was suggested with the aim of balancing protection for employees whilst providing flexibility for employers.
There have been two recent developments on this proposal:
- The government has confirmed that day-one rights for unfair dismissal will take effect in 2027 (and not Autumn 2026 as had previously been suggested). The government recognises that determining what constitutes 'reasonableness' for this protected period requires extensive consideration and ACAS may need to update their Code of Practice for disciplinary and grievances, which could take some time.
- Separately, the House of Lords has voted to remove the initial period entirely – thus reverting to the current status quo – but instead impose a reduced qualifying period of six months rather than two years. This would no doubt be a simpler option which we are all more familiar with. It would also mean employees receive the benefit of the protection quicker, as there would be no need for a new legal structure. Rather, the existing framework could be used.
The ERB will now go back to the House of Commons and will be subject to further debate and a vote there. It is likely that the government will reject the House of Lords amendment, given that this was not the government's original manifesto.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
