Employment Rights Act completes protracted journey after Royal Assent

The ERA finally received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, after a protracted journey between the House of Commons and the House of Lords in Westminster.

“ERA 2025 is hugely significant and impactful for both employers and employees and will be a major focus for UK business over the next couple of years.” said Sue Gilchrist, an employment law expert with Pinsent Masons.

“Getting it through parliament before Christmas was key for the government, so they can go ahead with the changes coming in April 2026.”

The act introduces a major raft of reforms around employment contracts, benefits and trade union access after forming a key part of the government’s election manifesto.

• Implementing the Employment Rights Act: what the biggest changes to UK employment law in a generation mean for your business

The government said it would introduce the changes over a two-year period in order to give businesses time to prepare for potential impacts, and would continue consultations with unions and businesses to refine details as it remained committed to the previously announced roadmap for implementation.

The first impact is the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

Next comes repeal of parts of the Trade Union Act 2016, which lift some of the legal hurdles which must be jumped before workforces can take industrial action. By February 2026 this will mean removing the minimum turnout requirement for industrial action ballots, lowering the notice period for strike action from 14 to 10 days, and increasing the period for which a strike ballot is effective to 12 months.

After that, changes to sick pay and paternity and parental leave are expected in April 2026, along with a doubling of protective awards for failure to consult. The Fair Work Agency is also expected to commence at that time: What the Fair Work Agency will mean for UK businesses.

We will also see the launch of consultation about collective redundancy, with many more consultations to follow.

UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said the new act would improve working rights and conditions for more than 15 million people in the country.

“This act sets in motion an increase in living standards, supporting productivity and importantly, more security and dignity for people in work,” he said.