The master reference

Employment Rights Act Timeline: Every Deadline That Matters to Small Employers

Last verified: 7 October 2026

This Employment Rights Act timeline cuts through the full legislative chronology and gives you only what matters if you employ fewer than 50 people: what's live now, what's imminent on 30 October 2026, what changes on 1 January 2027, and what's on the horizon.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Its changes arrive in waves — and most law-firm timelines try to cover everything, including provisions that only affect large employers. This one doesn't. Every date below is filtered through a single question: does this change how a business with 5–49 staff hires, manages, pays or dismisses people? If not, it's left out.

Live now — already in force

1 October 2026: tribunal claim limits doubled (3 → 6 months)

The deadline for bringing most employment tribunal claims — including unfair dismissal and discrimination — has gone from three months to six. This is already law. What it means for you: a dismissed employee now has twice as long to find a solicitor, build a case, and file. Disputes you thought were over can resurface months later.

The practical response is record-keeping. The Ministry of Justice figures for April–June 2026 show a tribunal backlog above 70,000 cases, up 51% year on year, with 71% of cases involving firms with fewer than 50 staff. You are statistically the most likely employer to be in the system — and the longer limitation period means your files need to survive longer. Full detail: the tribunal 6-month limit, explained.

6 April 2026: day-one rights wave (done)

This wave is behind us, but it still catches people out — especially new hires' contracts and old absence policies that were never updated. The key changes:

• Day-one Statutory Sick Pay — no waiting days, no minimum earnings threshold. See what it actually costs, plus our free calculator.
• Day-one family leave — paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights (no qualifying service needed).

If your contracts, handbook or payroll settings still reference waiting days or an earnings threshold for SSP, they're wrong. Fix them now.

Imminent — 30 October 2026 (23 days away)

The "all reasonable steps" harassment-prevention duty

Since October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. From 30 October 2026, the bar rises to all reasonable steps — and, crucially, a new third-party harassment liability comes in. If a customer, client, supplier or contractor harasses your staff and you haven't taken all reasonable steps to prevent it, you can be liable.

For a small employer, this is the most urgent deadline on this page. You have three weeks to get a prevention policy in place, brief your managers, and think specifically about third-party risk — the abusive customer in the shop, the drunk client at the event, the contractor on site. Our harassment duty guide walks through exactly what "all reasonable steps" looks like for a team of your size.

Coming — 1 January 2027 (the big one)

Three changes land together on New Year's Day 2027, and they compound each other. This is the date everything on this site is really about.

1. Unfair dismissal: qualifying period 2 years → 6 months

From 1 January, an employee needs only six months' service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal — down from two years. Around 6.3 million employees become newly covered. Combined with the already-live six-month claim window, a dismissal in early 2027 can be challenged by someone hired in mid-2026.

Your response: fix probation now. A structured 4-month probation with reviews at month 2 and month 4, decided before the six-month line, is your best defence — see the probation guide.

2. Compensation cap removed

The cap on unfair dismissal compensation goes. Awards become uncapped — scaled to the employee's actual loss. This is what turns a mishandled dismissal from an expensive mistake into a potentially business-threatening one, particularly for higher-paid staff.

3. Fire-and-rehire restrictions

Dismissing staff to force through changes to pay, hours, pensions, shifts or holiday (the "restricted variations") becomes automatically unfair from day one of employment — with only a narrow financial-difficulty exception. The consultation-first approach is no longer best practice; it's the only approach. See what to do instead.

On the horizon — 2027 and beyond

Autumn 2027: flexible working reforms (per Acas)

Stronger flexible working rights are expected in autumn 2027. The detail is still in consultation, so there's nothing to implement yet — but if you have staff who'll ask, know it's coming. We'll update this page when the regulations are confirmed.

Zero-hours and agency-worker reforms

Guaranteed-hours offers and related protections for zero-hours, low-hours and agency workers are working through consultation. If you use casual or variable-hours staff, keep an eye on this — but don't act on drafts. We'll flag the final rules when they're set.

The Fair Work Agency

The new enforcement body is being stood up to police minimum wage, holiday pay, SSP and other workplace rights. For small employers, the practical message is simple: the things you could previously get away with being sloppy about (SSP calculations, holiday pay, payslips) will be actively enforced. Get them right now, while it's still just good practice rather than an audit finding.

Zero-hours and agency-worker reforms

Guaranteed-hours offers and related protections for zero-hours, low-hours and agency workers are working through consultation. If you use casual or variable-hours staff, keep an eye on this — but don't act on drafts. We'll flag the final rules when they're set.

Collective redundancy consultation

Changes to redundancy consultation — including a broader test for when collective consultation is triggered — are also in the pipeline. This only bites if you're making 20 or more redundancies in 90 days, which is rare for a small employer, but if a restructure is ever on the cards, know the rules are tightening.

Quick answers: the questions small employers keep asking

I only have six staff. Does any of this apply to me?

Yes. Nearly everything on this page applies regardless of headcount — tribunal limits, harassment duties, sick pay, dismissal rules. A small number of provisions (like gender pay gap reporting) only affect large employers; we've deliberately excluded those. If you're an employer, this timeline is your timeline.

I hired someone in September 2026. When can they claim unfair dismissal?

Their service counts from when they started, not from January 2027. Someone hired in September 2026 reaches six months' service in March 2027 — and for any dismissal from that point on, the new six-month qualifying period applies. Review your probation decisions for autumn 2026 hires now, not in January.

Could these dates move?

Possibly. What you've read reflects the government's stated implementation plan as of 7 October 2026. Dates have already shifted before — the dismissal reforms were originally expected sooner. Treat this page as your planning baseline and check gov.uk and Acas for the final position before acting on any specific deadline.

Where's the official source for all of this?

Start with gov.uk for the legislation and Acas for employer guidance — Acas's Employment Rights Act pages are the most practical official resource for small businesses. Law-firm briefings are useful for depth, but they're written for HR departments, not owner-managers.

Should I just wait until January and deal with it all at once?

No — and this is the most expensive mistake on this page. The 30 October harassment duty can't be backdated, and contract changes get dramatically harder after 31 December. January 2027 is when the new world starts; October to December 2026 is when you prepare for it.

Your Employment Rights Act timeline: action plan by date

1. Now (October 2026): harassment prevention policy and third-party risk assessment — 30 October is 23 days away. Audit absence policies and payroll for the April SSP changes.
2. Before 31 December 2026: finish any planned contract changes under the current rules. Rewrite probation policies and manager guidance. Review flexibility clauses with a solicitor.
3. From 1 January 2027: operate under the new rules — six-month qualifying, no compensation cap, no fire-and-rehire for restricted variations. Decisions documented, processes fair, records kept.
4. Through 2027: watch flexible working and zero-hours consultations; budget for the January amendment cycle.

For the step-by-step version of all of this, work through our small-business checklist — it turns this timeline into a to-do list.