Published: 21 Oct 2026
This year, the Employment Rights Act is reshaping employment law, with key changes introduced in April and further reforms set to take effect this month. For surveying businesses, the next phase brings important changes to employer responsibilities, workplace practices and legal risk. Whether you’re a larger or smaller firm, it’s worth keeping track of these changes and what they’ll mean for your business and employees.
Employment Law is continually evolving. As always, we’ve been keeping our members updated on these wide-ranging developments and GSA Supplier Member Citation hosted an online session at the end of last month. This session included a recap of the April changes already in place and what’s coming in October, with key risk areas relevant to GSA members. These include harassment liability and tribunal exposure – and practical steps to protect your business and stay compliant. Flora Neville, associate speaker and business owner at Citation, covered the measures’ key points for our members, and it’s worth looking at what all these amendments entail.
Making assured amends
The April 2026 measures have already taken effect. In summary, these cover a range of topics, and are part of employment protection law measures and the MWP (Make Work Pay) policy. The collective redundancy protective award doubles the maximum period of the protective award – this is doubled from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ actual gross, pay per affected employee starting from 6 April 2026. It also covers ‘Day 1’ Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave and whistleblowers will have strengthened protections for workers who ‘blow the whistle’ on sexual harassment in the workplace. Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave (a non-MWP measure) enables bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave, if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life. On Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and waiting period have been removed.
There are voluntary measures on action plans on gender equality and supporting employees through the menopause, plus mandatory menopause guidance. It also simplifies the trade union recognition process – removing the likely majority test on application and removal of the 40% support threshold in recognition ballots. It also led to the establishment of the Fair Work Agency. At the end of August, changes were made to electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots. Trade unions are no longer restricted solely to traditional postal voting – they can now use electronic voting, a hybrid mix of electronic and postal, and also workplace voting. On 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing a claim to the Employment Tribunal will increase from 3-to-6 months – for breach of employment contract claims in Scotland this change will take place on 9 November 2026.
Securing workers’ futures
At the end of this month, another tranche of trade union measures takes effect. This includes the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union and a strengthening of trade unions’ right of access. It also covers the implementation of reforms to access and unfair practices during the recognition and derecognition process, and all remaining trade union recognition measures. It also encompasses new rights and protections for trade union representatives, and extending protections when taking industrial action.
New measures covering harassment include making sure employers take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees; introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties; and the introduction of a power that will enable the minister to make regulations at a later date – specifying evidence-based steps which employers must take to prevent sexual harassment. Further measures that will be introduced in October 2026 involve bringing forward regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England, and also on procurement. This will reinstate the two-tier code, to ensure outsourced private sector employees are offered no less favourable terms and conditions than employees transferred from the public sector.
GSA members need to be aware of these changes and how they will have to tailor their employment management accordingly. You can find out more detail on the UK government’s ongoing Employment Law timeline into 2027 here.
A further webinar will be offered to GSA members on 25th November, details will be sent in early November.
