The Employment Rights Act 2025, receiving Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, delivers sweeping changes to UK labor law as part of the “Plan to Make Work Pay.” Key measures include banning exploitative zero-hours contracts (introducing guaranteed hours), restricting “fire and rehire” practices, establishing day-one rights for bereavement leave, and strengthening trade union rights, with many reforms taking effect in 2026 and 2027.
Key Provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025:
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- Zero-Hours Contracts: Employers must offer guaranteed hours to workers with zero or low-hours contracts if they work regular hours over a reference period, alongside pay for cancelled shifts.
- Fire and Rehire
:Dismissals for failing to agree to contract changes (fire and rehire/replace) will be considered automatically unfair, except in severe, unavoidable financial circumstances.
- Unfair Dismissal: The qualifying period for protection against unfair dismissal is reduced to six months (from two years), with implementation planned for January 2027.
- Sick Pay: Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be available from the first day of sickness, calculated at 80% of earnings if that is lower than the standard rate.
- Trade Union Rights: Enhanced access for union officials to workplaces, new duties to inform staff of their right to join a union, and time off for union equality reps.
- Third-Party Harassment: A new duty for employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent harassment of employees by third parties (customers, contractors), effective October 2026.
- Family Rights: Extended protections against dismissal for pregnant women and new mothers.
- Single Worker Status: Moves toward a simpler, two-tier system of employment status to prevent misclassification.
Implementation Timeline:
- 18 December 2025: Royal Assent, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025.
- 2026: Regulations and codes of practice, including for fire and rehire, are expected to take effect.
- October 2026: New duty to prevent third-party harassment comes into force.
- January 2027: New unfair dismissal rights (six-month qualifying period) are expected to take effect.
How The Staffing Network Can ensure you are compliant
This is a major change for users of Recruitment Agencies. Along with the Finance Bill 2025 and the Living wage rise in April 2026, this will eliminate unfair recruitment and working practices undertaken in our industry. The Staffing Network have made significant investment to ensure that all of our clients are compliant with the new legislations.
- Our Worker Management and Booking System ensures that workers are correctly managed on a day to day basis
- Our experienced team are fully conversant with all current legislation
- We pay our workers PAYE using our own inhouse systems
- All work or abscence is controlled and managed using our Worker Management System
- Workers have access to use our Worker Management System via their mobile devices.
- Fully Transparent system – you can see your workers in real time
- Complete Worker Management to ensure full compliance
If you need more information please get in touch with our teams either by email at info@staff-network.co.uk or call 03306062636