27/07/2026
Weekly Blog – Employment Rights Act 2025 – What does it mean for workers?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is now law, but it is not one big switch that has suddenly improved every workplace. Some rights are already in force. Others will arrive later, and some still depend on regulations and consultation.
The useful question for members is simple: what has changed, what is still coming, and will employers actually obey it?
What has changed already
Since April, Statutory Sick Pay has been payable from the first day of sickness rather than the fourth. The old minimum earnings threshold has also been removed. This matters most to low-paid workers, including many people in outsourced services, agency work and jobs with short or irregular hours.
Many Barnet Council employees have contractual sick pay which is better than Statutory Sick Pay. The new law does not give employers an excuse to cut better contractual arrangements. It sets a legal minimum, not a target.
Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave have also become rights from the first day of employment. The maximum protective award where an employer fails to consult properly over collective redundancies has doubled from 90 to 180 days’ pay.
Employers must now keep adequate records of annual leave and holiday pay for six years. That is especially relevant in Barnet, where UNISON is still challenging the Council over years of holiday pay which failed to include regular overtime. Employers have spent far too long acting as though poor records are the worker’s problem. They are not.
The Fair Work Agency has also been established, with powers covering areas including holiday pay and Statutory Sick Pay. We will judge it by what it delivers, not by the name on the door.
What is still to come
More changes are due later this year. These include electronic or workplace voting in statutory trade union ballots, stronger union access rights, better protection for union representatives and a new duty on employers to tell workers about their right to join a trade union.
There are also stronger duties planned to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by third parties such as customers, clients or service users.
From January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal is due to fall from two years to six months. That is an improvement, but it is not the day-one protection that was originally promised. Fire and rehire protections are also due in January 2027.
Other changes, including rights to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, payment when shifts are cancelled, stronger flexible working rights and wider bereavement leave, are expected during 2027. Much of the detail is still being worked through.
Rights on paper are not enough
The Act contains important gains. Trade unions campaigned for them, and workers will benefit. But no law enforces itself.
Some employers will update their policies properly. Others will drag their feet, misunderstand the law or quietly hope workers do not know what has changed. We have seen that before with holiday pay, equal pay, maternity rights and reasonable adjustments.
That is why union organisation still matters. A legal right is stronger when workers know about it, keep records and act together when an employer gets it wrong.
Over the coming months, Barnet UNISON will continue checking employer policies and challenging anything which falls short. If you believe your sick pay, family leave, holiday pay or other rights are not being applied correctly, speak to your workplace rep or contact the branch.
The Employment Rights Act is progress. Our job is to make sure the words become real rights at work.
best wishes
John Burgess
Branch Secretary
Barnet UNISON
