A Look into 2026
The Employment Rights Bill 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. This is when the King formally agreed to make the Bill into an Act of Parliament (Employment Rights Act 2025).
The Act will introduce additions and amendments to existing legislation, including the Employment Rights Act 1996. The employment law changes included in the Act will take place over a period of 2 years.
February 2026
Increased dismissal protection for industrial action
Dismissal for taking part in industrial action will become ‘automatically unfair’. This will remove the current 12-week limit for claiming unfair dismissal.
Trade union activity
- the time needed to give notice of industrial action will reduce to 10 days, instead of 14 days
- unions will need a simple majority to vote for industrial action
- picket supervisors will no longer be required
- industrial action mandates will last for 12 months, instead of 6 months
- industrial action and ballot notices will be simplified
- political fund rules will change
April 2026
Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
- paternity leave will become a ‘day one right’, allowing someone to give notice of leave from the first day of employment – currently someone must have worked for their employer for 26 weeks
- ordinary parental leave will also become a day one right – currently someone must have worked for their employer for 1 year to be eligible
- the restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave will be removed
Sick pay
- statutory sick pay (SSP) will be paid from the first day of illness, instead of the fourth day
- the lower earnings limit will be removed – currently, workers must earn a minimum amount to be eligible for statutory sick pay
Collective redundancy protective award
The maximum ‘protective award’ for failure to consult in collective redundancy will double from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay.
Whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment
Sexual harassment will become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law. This will mean protection from detriment and unfair dismissal for whistleblowers making a sexual harassment disclosure
Gender pay gap and menopause action plans
Employers will need to create action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps. These will be voluntary from April 2026. They will become mandatory sometime in 2027.
More trade union changes
- simplifying how a trade union can gain recognition in a workplace
- allowing trade union members to vote electronically
Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency will be established in April 2026, to:
- bring together existing enforcement bodies
- take on enforcement of other employment rights, such as holiday pay and statutory sick pay
October 2026
Dismissal and rehire
Dismissing someone then rehiring them on worse terms and conditions will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases. This is sometimes known as ‘fire and rehire’.
Harassment
- employers will be liable for harassment from third parties, for example customers or clients, unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it happening – this will apply to all types of harassment
- employers will need to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment – current law says ‘reasonable steps’
A change to the law around non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) is also expected. This will void clauses that would prevent workers from alleging or disclosing work-related harassment or discrimination. The date of this change is not known yet.
Employment tribunal time limits
Time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal will increase to 6 months for all claims. The current time limit for most claims is 3 months.
More changes to trade union rules
- a new duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
- updated rules on a trade union’s right of access to the workplace
- a new right to reasonable accommodation and facilities for trade union representatives carrying out their duties
- a new right to time off for union equality representatives to carry out their duties
Increased protection against detriment for industrial action
Workers taking part in industrial action will be protected against detriment, in addition to unfair dismissal. ‘Detriment’ is when someone is treated less favourably by their employer.
Public sector outsourcing ‘two-tier code’
There will be new measures for public sector outsourcing. This is to avoid having different terms and conditions for ex-public sector employees and private sector employees.
December 2026
Mandatory Seafarer’s Charter
There will be a new mandatory charter for seafarers, with higher standards around health and safety, pay, job security and rest breaks.
New economic analysis on the Employment Rights Act 2025, estimates a direct cost to employers of £1 billion once fully implemented. This represents a modest increase of around 0.1% in total employment costs. For businesses who rely on flexible contracts or low-paid employment, these changes could be more significant, at least in the short run. However, the government deems the risks to hiring and overall employment to be relatively low.
Immigration Policy Round Up 2025
On 12 May 2025, the Home Office announced further changes to immigration rules in the Restoring Control over the Immigration System white paper. The policy changes affecting Work visas came into effect on 22 July 2025. Policy changes are one of a range of factors that can impact visa application trends. The changes to Immigration Rules affecting Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visas are as follows:
- skill level requirement raised: To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, the job must now be at RQF level 6 or above, with exceptions for jobs which are on the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List
- restrictions on dependants: Workers on the Temporary Shortage List are not permitted to sponsor dependants
- minimum Salary: Skilled Worker visas increased from £38,700 to £41,700; for Health and Care Worker visa, the salary threshold stayed the same at £25,000
- ending overseas recruitment for care workers: No new international applicants will be allowed to apply for care jobs in the UK under the current visa route; however some people in care worker and senior care worker roles can continue to apply to switch visas in-country until July 2028
On 4 September, the Refugee Family Reunion route was paused. Those seeking reunification may apply through other family routes, if they believe they meet the relevant immigration rules.
Provisional data from The Home Office’s statistics on numbers of people with an intention to enter the UK for work, study and family reasons show that sponsored study visas follow seasonal patterns, peaking in August, ahead of the start of the academic year (with a second smaller peak in December). Applications from Sponsored study visa main applicants in 2025 (426,300) were 5% higher than the previous year, but 10% lower than in 2023. There were 21,600 applications from dependants of students in 2025, 85% fewer compared to 2023. This followed the rule changes that came into effect in January 2024 which prevent most students from bringing dependants, other than those studying postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships.
The main temporary work routes to the UK (the Youth Mobility Scheme and Seasonal Worker route) follow seasonal patterns, typically peaking in spring of each year. Individuals on these routes are ineligible to bring dependants. There were 22,000 applications for Youth Mobility Scheme visas in 2025, 12% fewer than the previous year.
There were 21,600 applications from dependants of students in 2025, 85% fewer compared to 2023. This followed the rule changes that came into effect in January 2024 which prevent most students from bringing dependants, other than those studying postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships. than those studying postgraduate research courses or courses with government-funded scholarships.
References
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10267/
https://www.acas.org.uk/employment-rights-bill
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-997-1-july-2025/explanatory-memorandum-to-the-statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-997-1-july-2025-accessible
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-immigration-salary-list
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-temporary-shortage-list
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/overseas-recruitment-for-care-workers-to-end
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-04/hcws912
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-entry-clearance-visa-applications-december-2025/monthly-entry-clearance-visa-applications-december-2025