UK Employment Rights Bill 2025 – Key Changes

A Generational Shake-Up

"I think it does," confirms Lucinda when asked if this counts as a generational shake-up. "I don't think that some of the changes that are included within the bill are necessarily all new. Some of the things had previously been enforced and they're now seeming to be coming back to the forefront. But it is a massive shake up, a massive change and a lot of changes for HR professionals and employers to be aware of."

The complexity is compounded by the fact that the bill is still evolving. As Lucinda explains: "The Employment Rights bill is still being amended at the moment. We got new amendments just last week on the 7th of July. So there are still proposed changes whether these amendments will be accepted or not is still yet to be seen."

Rather than waiting for final details, there are practical steps organisations can take today to prepare for the changes ahead. "The things that we can do today are just looking at the future of the business, which I think all businesses do anyway," says Lucinda. "But in terms of the changes that are coming in, a lot of them relate focusing HR practices, policies and procedures on employees. The only thing we can really do is try and make sure we've got a firm plan in place for the future of what is a business's five year plan, and how do these proposed changes fit into that."

The reassuring news is that many changes will be refinements rather than complete overhauls. "A lot of the changes may be tweaks to current policies. They're not generally completely new principles. They're kind of extending the protection to an earlier stage, or they're reintroducing principles that have come in and gone out again."

The Major Changes Coming

Currently, employees need two years' service before they can bring an unfair dismissal claim. The bill proposes making this a day-one right, with significant implications for businesses. "What's proposed at the moment is that the government plans to introduce an initial period of employment. So that would be a period of time where you could rely on a fair reason, but you wouldn't have the same requirements in terms of process as in a general unfair dismissal claim," Lucinda explains. The government is considering around nine months for this initial period.

This change will fundamentally alter recruitment strategies. "Where I think it will really impact is on recruitment first and foremost. There's going to be a high focus on recruitment and getting recruitment right, because clearly, the better the quality of people that are coming into the business, the more likely they are to succeed."

Following high-profile cases, the bill also aims to restrict fire and rehire practices. "What's happening is the employment rights bill is looking to put an end to the practice of fire and rehire," says Lucinda. While not a complete ban, it will make dismissals automatically unfair in specific circumstances, particularly around changes to pay, pensions, hours, and holiday entitlements.

Family Leave and Flexible Working Updates

Several changes are also coming to family leave provisions, including removing the 26-week service requirement for paternity and unpaid parental leave, expanding parental bereavement leave to general bereavement leave, and extending protection for employees returning from maternity leave. "There will be a right to a week's leave in the event of a bereavement as well, which isn't currently in place," Lucinda notes.

Building on recent changes that made flexible working requests a day-one right, the bill adds new requirements around reasonableness of refusals. "Under the bill, there has to be a reasonableness to the refusal," explains Lucinda. "They will need to set out which of the eight statutory reasons they're relying upon, and they will have to explain why they considered that was a reasonable reason to refuse the flexibility requested."

The good news for businesses is that implementation will be staged, not immediate. "There's a host of changes that are due to take place pretty quickly after the bill becomes law, and those mainly relate to trade unions and trade union protections," says Lucinda. "The next tranche of changes will take effect from April 2026, then there'll be more in October 2026, and there'll be some further changes made in 2027."

Preparing for the Future

Concerns about the burden on smaller businesses are valid, but there are built-in considerations. "I think it does put a high degree of pressure on these smaller employers," acknowledges Lucinda. However, she provides reassurance: "A lot of those changes will take into account the size of the business. So generally speaking we're looking at reasonable steps. It will look at the size, the administrative resources of the company. So hopefully that will provide some reassurance."

The key message for businesses is to focus on fundamentals now. This means reviewing employment contracts, updating policies (particularly around sexual harassment, which became a legal duty last October and is being strengthened), and ensuring robust recruitment and assessment processes. "It's a time to go back to basics, look at your employment contracts. Do you have any flexibility in those? Are you able to make changes if you need to? Look at your policies," advises Lucinda.

While these changes might seem daunting, they represent an opportunity for businesses to strengthen their employment practices and create workplaces that attract and retain top talent. The staged implementation provides time to prepare, and many of the principles reflect good practice that forward-thinking employers are already implementing. The message is clear: start preparing now, focus on the fundamentals, and remember that robust employment practices aren't just about compliance, they're about building sustainable, successful businesses.

Want to hear more insights from Lucinda Chaplin on the Employment Rights Bill? Listen to her full conversation with Felix Mitchell on the "We Need to Talk About HR" podcast, where she dives deeper into the legal complexities and practical implications of these changes for businesses of all sizes.