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The ‘most transformative change in employment law for decades‘ (says the Guardian), the Employment Rights Act 2025 became law in December and brings into force a raft of new employee rights to be introduced from April 2026 onwards.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
You may be aware that changes to SSP have already taken effect, meaning there is no longer a ‘lower earnings threshold’ nor three day waiting period. So, all employees can now claim SSP from day one of absence at either 80% of their wage or £118.75 per week whichever is lower.
Qualifying period for unfair dismissal claim
More controversially the removal of the qualifying period to claim unfair dismissal is due to commence in 2027. Originally proposed as day one employment rights for all, this has now been set at a six month qualifying period, so employers can still assess and dismiss new staff relatively easily if necessary.
However, an employee will be able to issue a claim of unfair dismissal much earlier than the current two year qualifying period allows. As a result, it is predicted that there will be a significant increase in unfair dismissal and related employee claims.
Employers will need to ensure they follow all lawful processes to protect themselves from claims in the Employment Tribunal. Disciplinary and grievance policies should be reviewed and staff training undertaken to reduce the risk of expensive and time-consuming litigation.
Harassment in the workplace
Of further concern to employers is the new requirement to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment, sexual or otherwise, of their employees in the workplace. A failure to do so could lead to large awards of compensation being paid to employees who are victims of bullying or harassment at work.
This change will also cover unwanted conduct toward your workforce from third parties. From October next year, employers will be responsible for taking all reasonable actions to prevent suppliers, customers, clients or any other third parties, from harassing their workers.
Furthermore, sexual harassment will also become a ‘protected disclosure ‘ under whistleblowing legislation. This means that an employee complaining of unwanted attention from a colleague or customer, for example, could choose to treat this both as a grievance and as ‘whistleblowing’. And, if the Employment Tribunal agrees that the employer failed to protect them and could have done so, there is no limit to the amount of compensation that the employer may be ordered to pay the victim.
To protect your organisation, now is the time to review and install robust anti-harassment policies and staff training programmes.
Signage may also need to be installed if staff are public facing, to say that abusive or inappropriate comments to staff will not be tolerated.
We can help with pragmatic and clear advice on all aspects of these imminent and significant legal challenges ahead.