Employment Rights Act 2025 - Updated Timeline

The government published an updated Employment Rights Act 2025 implementation timeline on 24 March 2026, confirming revised commencement dates for several key provisions. Two significant changes affect how employers should be planning right now: the fire-and-rehire ban has been pushed back from October 2026 to January 2027, and the reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years to six months has been confirmed for January 2027.

What's Changed: The Updated Timeline

Provision	Previous date	Confirmed date	Action required
Fire-and-rehire ban	October 2026	January 2027	Phased policy rewrite - deadline extended
Unfair dismissal qualifying period (2 years to 6 months)	TBC	January 2027	Review dismissal procedures now
Working Time Regulations commencement order	-	Published w/c 23 March 2026	Review holiday pay and annual leave records
Paternity leave - day-one right	-	6 April 2026	Update contracts and handbooks before April
Unpaid parental leave - day-one right	-	6 April 2026	Update contracts and handbooks before April
SSP increase (£116.75 to £123.25/week, no waiting period)	-	6 April 2026	Update payroll and SSP policy before April
Collective redundancy protective award (90 to 180 days)	-	6 April 2026	Update redundancy procedures before April
Statutory family pay rates (to £194.32/week)	-	6 April 2026	Update payroll and family leave policies
Annual leave and holiday pay record-keeping	-	6 April 2026	Implement record-keeping system

Source: Lewis Silkin, 24 March 2026.

What the Fire-and-Rehire Delay Means for Employers

The delay from October 2026 to January 2027 is a reprieve, not a reprieve from the obligation. The statutory Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement is already in force, and employment tribunals can uplift awards by up to 25% where employers fail to follow it. The January 2027 ban itself will make it automatically unfair to dismiss and re-engage unless the employer can demonstrate financial distress. Employers using fire-and-rehire as a routine contractual variation tool need a new approach - the deadline has moved but the direction of travel has not.

Practical steps now:

Review any existing contractual variation processes
Update the disciplinary and dismissal sections of your employee handbook
Ensure your consultation processes are documented
Take legal advice if you have ongoing fire-and-rehire situations

What the Unfair Dismissal Change Means

From January 2027, employees will acquire unfair dismissal protection after just six months, not two years. This is one of the most significant changes in a generation for UK employers. The current two-year qualifying period has given employers significant flexibility during probationary periods - that flexibility largely disappears. From January 2027, a dismissal in month seven or eight must be justifiable and procedurally fair.

Practical steps now:

Review probationary period clauses in all employment contracts
Introduce or tighten probationary review processes
Ensure managers are trained to document performance concerns from day one
Update disciplinary procedures to cover the probationary period explicitly

What's Coming into Force on 6 April 2026

Several provisions take effect in less than two weeks from the date of this article. Employers must act before 6 April:

Paternity and unpaid parental leave become day-one rights

Employees no longer need 26 weeks' service to claim paternity leave, and the 12-month qualifying period for unpaid parental leave is removed. Employment contracts and the employee handbook need updating before April.

SSP rises to £123.25/week with no waiting period and no lower earnings limit

The three waiting days are abolished - SSP is payable from day one of absence. The lower earnings limit (currently £123/week) is removed, meaning lower-paid workers become eligible. Update your SSP policy, your sickness absence policy, and your payroll system before 6 April.

Collective redundancy protective award doubles from 90 to 180 days' pay

If you fail to collectively consult properly where 20 or more redundancies are proposed, the Employment Tribunal can award up to 180 days' pay per affected employee - double the current maximum. Update your redundancy procedures now.

Statutory family pay rises to £194.32/week

Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental pay all increase. Update payroll configurations before 6 April.

Annual leave and holiday pay record-keeping becomes a formal obligation

Employers must maintain annual leave and holiday pay records. Review and implement a record-keeping system if you don't already have one.

What Employers Should Do Now

Ordered by urgency:

Before 6 April 2026: Update employment contracts to reflect day-one paternity and parental leave rights. Update SSP policy and payroll. Update redundancy consultation procedures. Implement holiday pay record-keeping. Update statutory pay rates.
Before January 2027: Audit and rewrite fire-and-rehire and contractual variation processes. Review and update probationary period clauses and procedures. Prepare for day-one unfair dismissal protection.

How Policy Pros Can Help

Policy Pros can help you work through the ERA changes methodically. We offer:

Employment contract reviews and rewrites
Employee handbook updates
ERA readiness audits - identifying which of your documents need updating and by when
Phased implementation plans for the January 2027 changes

If you need a broader policy review to bring your HR documentation up to date, we can scope that as part of the same engagement.