The government updated its official Employment Rights Act implementation timeline on 16 July 2026, fixing the dates for the next wave of changes [1]. For employers — especially the small ones running payroll without an HR department — the picture now splits cleanly into three: a substantial package already in force since April, two October 2026 changes that widen legal exposure, and the heaviest reforms landing together on 1 January 2027: unfair dismissal protection after six months' service, the removal of the compensatory award cap, and the fire-and-rehire ban [1][2].
One correction to the shorthand still circulating: there is no "day-one" unfair dismissal right on the current schedule. The Act's landing point, confirmed on the government timeline and by Acas, is a six-month qualifying period from 1 January 2027, down from today's two years [2]. The date is closer than it sounds. Anyone on the payroll from roughly July 2026 onwards will pass six months' service after the new regime begins — so on the government's published dates, the people you hire this autumn cross that threshold within the new rules' first months (that is our reading of the timeline, not a government statement).
What is already law?
Three sets of changes commenced in the first week of April 2026, and a fourth followed a day later. If any of these are news, they are overdue rather than upcoming.
Sick pay from the first day of absence
Since 6 April 2026, statutory sick pay is payable from the first full day of sickness — the three waiting days are gone — and the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, so all eligible employees qualify regardless of how little they earn [3]. SSP is now the lower of the flat weekly rate (£123.25 for 2026/27, up from £118.75) or 80% of average weekly earnings, payable by the employer for up to 28 weeks [3][4]. The 80% taper brings very low earners into scope without paying more in sickness than in work.
Acas puts the newly entitled at around 1.3 million low-paid employees, with the government estimating a cost to employers of roughly £450 million a year — about £15 per employee [5]. Employers saw it coming: in an Acas poll of 1,011 senior decision-makers in early February, 43% named day-one sick pay as the Act's biggest-impact change, ahead of six-month unfair dismissal protection (31%) and day-one paternity leave (28%) [6]. If payroll still assumes three waiting days, that is a live compliance gap, not a future one.
The pay floor moved on 1 April
The National Living Wage for those 21 and over rose to £12.71 an hour on 1 April 2026 — up 50p, or 4.1% [7]. The 18–20 rate took the largest jump of any band, up 85p (8.5%) to £10.85, and the 16–17 and apprentice rates both rose 6% to £8.00 [7]. The youth-rate rise is deliberate policy: the Low Pay Commission reports the 18–20 rate now sits at 85% of the NLW as the government works towards a single adult rate from age 18 [8]. The LPC estimates 1.70 million jobs are covered by the minimum wage this April — about 5.9% of all jobs, down from 1.76 million a year earlier [8]. For employers who built entry-level hiring around cheaper youth rates, that arbitrage is narrowing, and the stated policy direction is to remove the 18–20 band altogether [8].
Family leave, redundancy and whistleblowing
The rest of the 6 April package deserves more attention than it received. Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights, ending the previous qualifying-service requirements [1]. A new bereaved partners' paternity leave provides up to 52 weeks where a mother or primary adopter dies within a year of birth or adoption [1]. The maximum protective award for failing to consult collectively on redundancies doubled from 90 to 180 days' pay per affected employee — making a botched restructure one of the most expensive process failures available to an employer [2]. Sexual harassment disclosures became qualifying disclosures for whistleblowing protection [2]. And voluntary gender equality and menopause action plans arrived, ahead of becoming mandatory in 2027 [1].
Who enforces all of this now?
The Fair Work Agency launched on 7 April 2026 as the UK's single labour-market enforcement body, consolidating the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and national minimum wage enforcement [9]. Its current remit covers the minimum wage, agency-worker protections and gangmaster licensing, and the government has said it will take on enforcement of further rights — holiday pay is the named example — over time [9]. Official guidance stresses it creates no new legal obligations, but tells employers to review its enforcement policy statement and audit record-keeping; it can inspect workplaces and require evidence of compliance [9]. The practical shift is that underpayment and agency-worker failures now face a single enforcer rather than three separate bodies.
What changes in October 2026?
Two dates matter, and they compound.
From 1 October 2026, employment tribunal claim time limits extend from three months to six [1]. That doubles the period in which a dispute can become a claim. One drafting note: the GOV.UK timeline describes the extension in the context of contract-breach claims, with 9 November 2026 for Scotland, while Acas describes it broadly as tribunal time limits rising to six months in October [1][2]. The sources frame the scope differently — check the commencement order, or take advice, before assuming which claim types are covered from when.
From 30 October 2026, the sexual harassment regime hardens: employers must take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment — a higher bar than the current duty — alongside a new obligation to prevent harassment by third parties such as customers, and expanded trade union rights [1]. For public-facing businesses in retail, hospitality, care and events, the third-party element is the operational change: risk assessments and front-line manager training need to exist before the duty does. The same timeline also commits to e-balloting for statutory union ballots by 31 August 2026 [1].
What lands on 1 January 2027?
The Act's biggest changes arrive together on New Year's Day.
The unfair dismissal qualifying period falls from two years to six months [2]. This is the measure still shorthanded as "day-one rights"; the implemented version is six months, and the difference shapes probation design. As set out above, this autumn's hires will cross the six-month line under the new regime — probation and performance management for the current intake should already assume the January rules.
At the same time, the cap on the compensatory award is removed [2]. Under the new regime, a contested unfair dismissal carries theoretically unlimited compensation exposure rather than the current statutory ceiling — which changes settlement arithmetic even for employers who never expect to lose.
And fire-and-rehire — dismissing staff to re-engage them on worse terms — becomes automatically unfair in most cases [1]. This was originally scheduled for October 2026 and was pushed back to January 2027 in the revised timetable published on 3 February 2026 [1][10]. Employers planning contract changes have a dated, closing window under the old law — and using it aggressively in the final months would be a conspicuous litigation risk.
What will the minimum wage be in April 2027?
Not decided — but the direction is published. The Business Secretary's remit letter of 16 March 2026 asks the Low Pay Commission to recommend April 2027 rates by October 2026, keeping the NLW pegged at two-thirds of median hourly earnings, with "full flexibility" on how fast the 18–20 band converges with the adult rate [11]. The LPC's own central projection for the April 2027 NLW is £13.18, within a range of £13.02 to £13.34 [8]. Its evidence consultation closed on 26 June 2026 [12]. Treat £13.18 as a planning number, not a rate: employers setting 2027 budgets can pencil in roughly another 3.7% on the pay floor, with confirmation expected around the autumn Budget.
What is still unscheduled?
The flagship zero-hours reforms — the right to guaranteed hours reflecting a 12-week reference period, reasonable notice of shifts, and payments for short-notice cancellations — remain scheduled for 2027 but are explicitly subject to consultation, with commencement dates unconfirmed as of the 16 July timeline [1]. The same applies to NDA-misuse regulations for harassment and discrimination cases, mandatory action plans, and bereavement leave including pregnancy loss [1]. Flexible-rota sectors should follow the consultations, but there is nothing yet to build policy around — and pretending otherwise is how bad advice gets written.
Why does the tribunal backlog raise the stakes?
Because the queue was saturated before any of the demand-side changes arrived. Ministry of Justice statistics published 11 June 2026 show 22,000 employment tribunal receipts in January–March 2026 — 15,000 single claims and 7,200 multiple claims within 440 lead cases — against just 11,000 disposals [13]. Claims are arriving at roughly double the rate they are resolved. The open caseload stands at 531,000 claims, and the single-claim backlog of 64,000 is up 55% on the same period a year earlier [13]. The MoJ itself cautions that the rollout of its new case system makes some year-on-year comparisons unreliable this quarter [13], but the intake-versus-disposal gap is stark on any reading.
Now put the pieces together: from October, claimants get twice as long to bring a claim; from January, a far larger share of the workforce can claim unfair dismissal, with no cap on the compensatory award — all feeding a system that already resolves half of what it receives. That is analysis, not an official forecast, but the implication is plain: a dispute starting in 2027 could shadow a business for years, which makes clean processes, early conciliation and honest paperwork worth far more than they were in 2025.
The full timeline at a glance
| Date | What changes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 | NLW £12.71; 18–20 rate £10.85; 16–17 and apprentice rates £8.00 [7] | In force |
| 6 April 2026 | SSP from day one, Lower Earnings Limit removed; day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave; bereaved partners' leave; protective award doubled to 180 days; harassment disclosures gain whistleblowing protection [1][2][3] | In force |
| 7 April 2026 | Fair Work Agency operational [9] | In force |
| By 31 August 2026 | E-balloting for statutory union ballots [1] | Due |
| 1 October 2026 | Tribunal claim time limits extended from 3 to 6 months (9 November for Scotland per GOV.UK) [1] | Confirmed |
| 30 October 2026 | "All reasonable steps" harassment duty; third-party harassment obligation; expanded union rights [1] | Confirmed |
| 1 January 2027 | Unfair dismissal after 6 months' service; compensatory award cap removed; fire-and-rehire automatically unfair [1][2] | Confirmed |
| April 2027 | Next minimum wage rise — LPC central projection £13.18 [8] | Projected, not decided |
| 2027, dates TBC | Zero-hours guaranteed hours; shift notice and cancellation payments; NDA rules; mandatory action plans; bereavement leave [1] | Subject to consultation |
What should a small employer do before January?
Five moves, in rough order of urgency.
Close the April gaps first. If payroll still applies SSP waiting days or the old Lower Earnings Limit, or absence and family-leave policies predate 6 April, fix that now — these are current obligations, and Acas guidance sets out what compliant looks like [5].
Rebuild probation around a six-month gateway. From 1 January 2027, six months' service brings unfair dismissal protection [2]. Probation reviews that drift to month seven or eight stop being sloppy and start being expensive. Structured check-ins, documented at months two and four, give you decision points that fall well inside the qualifying period.
Run the harassment risk assessment before 30 October. The "all reasonable steps" duty and third-party obligation reward employers who can show dated risk assessments, training records and reporting routes that existed before the commencement date [1].
Audit your records before the Fair Work Agency's remit grows. The government has flagged holiday pay as a future FWA function [9]. Employers who reconcile working-time and holiday-pay records this year will meet that expansion as an administrative event rather than an enforcement one.
Bring hiring decisions forward — and take selection more seriously. With dismissal harder to unwind after January, the cheapest place to fix a hiring mistake is before the offer. For volume and entry-level roles that means meeting candidates rather than skimming CVs — in person at events such as the Birmingham Careers Fair on 30 October, and through free listings on our jobs board.
Quick answers
When does day-one unfair dismissal start? It doesn't, on the current schedule. The implemented reform is a six-month qualifying period from 1 January 2027, down from two years [2].
When did the SSP day-one rules begin? 6 April 2026, UK-wide. SSP is payable from the first full day of sickness, the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, and the rate is the lower of £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings [3][4].
What is the fire-and-rehire ban date? 1 January 2027, when fire-and-rehire becomes automatically unfair dismissal in most cases — delayed from October 2026 in the revised timetable published 3 February 2026 [1][10].
What is the Fair Work Agency? The single labour-market enforcement body launched 7 April 2026, combining minimum wage enforcement, agency-worker protections and gangmaster licensing, with more functions — including holiday pay — to follow [9].
When do tribunal deadlines change? From 1 October 2026, claim time limits extend from three months to six; the GOV.UK timeline gives 9 November 2026 for Scotland, and the precise claim-type scope should be checked against the commencement order [1][2].
---
This article is general information, not legal advice. Commencement details can change; check GOV.UK and Acas guidance, or take professional advice, before acting on specific dates.
If the January changes are pulling your hiring plans forward, our autumn season runs nationwide through to November — see what exhibiting involves at our employer hub, or browse the full autumn schedule.