What’s changing in the Employment Rights Act 2025 rollout? Updated timelines, new consultations and practical implications for employers

Now that the Employment Rights Act 2025 ('ERA 2025') has been passed, attention has turned to the implementation timetable. Here we bring you up to speed with the most recent announcements.

The Government published an updated implementation timeline for the ERA 2025 on 11 February 2026, revising in certain respects the original Employment Rights Bill roadmap published in July 2025.

Key changes to the original timetable include:

• Pushing back the implementation of measures restricting dismissal and re-engagement in order to effect changes to contractual terms ('fire and rehire'). These reforms are now intended to take effect in January 2027, not October 2026 as announced last summer. They are potentially important changes that could affect all employers and on which the Government has recently started a consultation. For more information on that consultation see here.
• The power to make regulations specifying the steps employers should take to prevent sexual harassment will be brought forward to October 2026. The law in this area has developed in a somewhat piecemeal way and additional guidance is likely to be welcomed by employers. In the meantime, the Government is signposting employers to guidance produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission when the duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment came into effect in October 2024.
• New menopause guidance will take effect on 6 April 2026. As yet there is no indication of what that guidance will contain.

In addition to the consultation paper on fire and rehire (above), four further consultation papers have been published this month covering flexible working, tips and gratuities, agency work and umbrella companies and union recognition procedures. The flexible working consultation closes on 30 April 2026, the consultation on agency work and umbrella companies on 1 May 2026 and the remaining three close on 1 April 2026.  There is currently no timeline for future consultations. 

If you have any views that you would like the employment team to express on your behalf during these consultation exercises, please don't hesitate to get in touch.  If you would prefer to respond directly you can do so using the links above.

This article was authored by Christina Morton, senior knowledge lawyer and Melissa Paz, special counsel, in the UK employment team.