Crucial advice for employers and employees in 2026

Our employment law experts, Rebecca Reid and Katie Bullimore have warned that UK workplaces face ‘the biggest change in employment legislation for a decade’ as sweeping reforms edge closer. 

With the Government’s proposed Employment Rights Bill having recently received royal assent, now becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025, employers and employees alike are being urged to prepare now for changes affecting workplace protections.

Uncertainty around the final wording of the legislation should not stop businesses and workers from taking early action. 

Rebecca and Katie have outlined their advice for the upcoming legalisation change:

Reduction in the qualifying period 

One of the most significant proposed reforms is the reduction of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months. 

The law in respect of unfair dismissal will be probably the biggest out of everything with the new changes, purely because it’s been reduced. It was initially proposed as a day one right, but now it’s been amended to six months. Currently, the law is two years. 

Six months is not a long period of time to decide whether somebody is fit for that role or not. It will mean that employers are going to have to be thinking about their recruitment processes, their probationary period processes, to make sure that they are sufficiently able to identify whether that person is a right fit for the business within a relatively short space of time.

Employers aren’t prepared yet

While the reforms are expected to be phased in from this year, many employers are not yet ready as we still don’t know what this law is going to look like. 

There has been a ping pong back and forward between the House of Commons and House of Lords with regards to various amendments. The House of Lords backed down with their final amendment on 16 December 2025, finally allowing the bill to be passed.

Employers will need to look at their policies to ensure they are quite stringent and cover everything that it needs to.

Don’t leave it until the last minute

There are some changes that we know are happening. Including, statutory sick pay, where the three-day waiting period that we’ve got now before you can claim statutory sick pay will be removed from April 2026.

The reality is, employers are probably going to need to be updating sick pay policies, perhaps contracts of employment as well. That gives an opportunity anyway to do a sort of wider review of handbooks and policies.

Expect an increase in disputes

The experts also warned that the reforms are likely to reshape the employment disputes landscape. It is likely there will be an increase, especially with employers probably getting to grasp with the changes that are coming about.

It might be that we see a reduction in some other types of claims, particularly things like whistleblowing claims, potentially also discrimination claims, where employees sometimes will bring those types of claims instead because they don’t have the current two years’ service.

It may mean that we see more settlement agreements, so employers using settlement agreements in order to exit people from businesses, and indeed employees perhaps wanting settlement agreements to exit.

Advice for employees 

The reforms are not just something for employers to consider, employees should also take an active role as changes come into force. 

If their employer is making those changes, then to start reviewing those internally as to what they are looking like and as to whether they’re impacted in any way. 

If you’ve got concerns, raise those with your employer proactively, amicably and pragmatically to try and resolve those directly.

This will affect everyone

This is the biggest change in employment legislation for a decade, everywhere will be impacted by these changes, big, small, and everything in between them, every sector. So, there’s something for everybody.

Be proactive. If you know something’s happening, do something.

How can we help?

If you need support with how to respond to the upcoming Employment Rights Act, get in touch with our specialist employment law solicitors in Leicester. 

Contact our team by telephone on 0116 247 2000, complete our contact form, or send us an email via info@smithpartnership.co.uk. 

We also have offices across the East Midlands and Staffordshire with expert settlement agreement solicitors, in Burton, Derby, Stoke-On-Trent and Swadlincote.