đź“… Employment Rights Act: 2027 dates
What is it?
The government has updated its timeline for the Employment Rights Act 2025. Measures that were simply listed as “2027” now have dates, and one has been pushed back: fire and rehire restrictions move from 1 January to March 2027.
1 January 2027
Unfair dismissal qualifying period cut from two years to six months
Cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards removed
Duty to tell workers they have the right to join a trade union
Stronger tipping law
March 2027
Fire and rehire restrictions
Gender equality and menopause action plans mandatory for public authorities
April 2027
The same action plans mandatory for private and voluntary sector employers
Bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss
Wider blacklisting protections
Collective redundancy: organisation-wide threshold
August 2027
Electronic balloting for union recognition and derecognition ballots
September 2027
Rules to stop NDAs being misused in harassment or discrimination cases
October 2027
Stronger dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers
Flexible working changes, so refusals must be reasonable
December 2027
Regulation of umbrella companies
Dates for the zero hours changes are still to be confirmed.
What does it mean for you?
The biggest change is only weeks away. For any dismissal on or after 1 January 2027, an employee with six months’ service can claim unfair dismissal, and there’s no cap on the compensatory award.
Now’s the time to:
Review probation periods and make sure reviews happen and are written down
Tighten up performance, conduct and redundancy processes so they’re fair from the start
Check fixed term contracts, as not renewing one counts as a dismissal
If you have 250 or more employees, the April action plans need at least one action on your gender pay gap and one on supporting staff through the menopause. They’re voluntary now, so it’s worth getting ahead.
How Lansbury HR can help
We can review your contracts, probation process and policies ahead of 1 January, train your managers, and help you plan for the changes later in the year. Get in touch for a friendly chat about what this means for your business.
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