Stronger pregnancy and maternity rights, the end of ‘fire and rehire’, guaranteed working hours for those on zero-hour contracts, getting rid of anti-union legislation…
These are some of the rights being brought in by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA), which became law on 18 December 2025 – although specific rights are coming into force at different times.
The ERA was a key pledge of the Labour Party at the last election, developed in partnership with trade unions. However, after over a year of wrangling, the reforms are not quite as dramatic as was promised.
Nevertheless, there are some important benefits for Equity members. Here’s what you need to know.
Many of the Act’s biggest measures, like changes to unfair dismissal, are rights given only to those with ‘employee’ status.
On most performance engagements, Equity members will have the intermediate ’worker’ status, between employee and self-employed. But some members’ work will count as full self-employment, including directors, designers and some variety work.
For those with ’worker’ status, there are a few key changes to be aware of, explained below. If you’re fully self-employed, changes in the ERA are less relevant. However, the union continues to lobby the government on measures to support the self-employed, such as on the issue of persistent late payments.
The ERA makes some important...
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