Employment Rights Act

Where can I read the Employment Rights Act 2025 and find reliable guidance about it?

You can read the full text of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on the official UK legislation website: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36

For practical guidance and updates, useful sources include:

• GOV.UK guidance on implementing the Act and its timeline
• Acas guidance explaining the changes for workers and employers
• Government factsheets explaining key measures in the Act.

When will the different parts of the Act come into force?

The Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, but most of its provisions do not start immediately. Instead, the government is bringing the changes into force in stages between 2026 and 2027 so employers and workers have time to prepare.

For example, some trade union and industrial action provisions came into force in February 2026. Further employment rights changes (such as sick pay and family leave reforms) came into force from April 2026. Other measures are expected to take effect later in 2026 or during 2027.

Union reps should check the implementation timetable to see when specific rights begin.

Does the Act apply across the whole UK, including Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland is not covered by the Employment Rights Act 2025, although some limited provisions may extend across the whole UK. Northern Ireland will introduce its own equivalent reforms separately. This is because employment law is devolved in Northern Ireland, which has its own legislation and employment law system.

The NI Executive is developing its own "Good Jobs" employment reforms, which aim to improve job security and workers' rights in a similar way.

Is any of the Act retrospective?

In general, the Act is not retrospective. This means it does not normally change the legal position for events that happened before the relevant provisions came into force.

However, the Act does include transitional arrangements for situations that overlap the start date of the new rules (for example, industrial action ballots or existing legal obligations).

In practice, the new rules generally apply to events occurring on or after the relevant commencement date. Transitional provisions may preserve the previous rules for situations that began before that date.