The Employment Rights Act 2025 overhauls UK employment law, requiring HR to update policies, improve communication, and ensure compliance with enhanced worker protections. As the leading global legal association representing in-house counsel, ACC has broken down the exact ways this new act will affect HR teams and outlined some best practices to help prepare businesses for this new world of operations.
Key Areas of Change For HR Under the ERA Rollout
The ERA will be rolled out gradually over several years, with most changes expected to take effect between 2026 and 2027. Several aspects of the Act, including specific employer obligations, are still under consultation, with feedback being gathered from employers, workers, and trade unions. Once finalised, this process will provide greater clarity on the scope of employers’ communication responsibilities.
In the meantime, HR professionals should begin preparing their teams for upcoming policy changes in the following key areas:
1) Hiring: Guaranteed hours based on average hours worked, reasonable notice of shifts, and payment for cancelled shifts.
2) Layoffs: Stricter consultation will be required for mass redundancies and for dismissing employees to re-engage them on inferior terms.
3) Stronger workers’ rights: Parental leave, bereavement leave, and sick pay become “day one” rights. Employers must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment, including from third parties.
HR Best Practices and Tips for ERA Readiness
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