A quarter of HR professionals feel unprepared to implement new Employment Rights Act measures landing in October. That’s according to new analysis from a survey* of over 500 HR professionals, to understand how prepared their organisations are for the next waves of reform.
The Employment Rights Act became law in December 2025. New measures are being introduced in stages. The next change to be implemented lands on 1st October, when the deadline for bringing employment tribunal claims will extend from three months to six. According to Breathe HR’s analysis, more than one in five HR professionals (22%) say their organisation isn’t ready for it.
This isn’t the only imminent change HRs are concerned about. Nearly one in five (18%) feel unprepared for the strengthened duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment. A further fifth (18%) aren’t ready for new trade union access and recognition rights, whilst 1 in 4 (27%) feel unprepared for new rules around employer liability for harassment of staff by third parties. Each of these measures will come into effect from 30th October this year.
The findings suggest the pace of reform is stretching HR teams into unfamiliar territory. More than a quarter of respondents (28%) say interpreting and implementing employment law has become a new or expanded part of their job in the past two years, rising to half (50%) of C-level HR leaders.
As a result, many are learning as they go. One in four HR professionals (24%) said they’ve learned to...
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