Employment Rights Bill receives Royal Assent, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025

This morning, the Employment Rights Act received Royal Assent and has now become law.

As the Government ushers in its flagship legislation, Ministers have praised the Act for its promise of new rights for workers, including day one paternity leave and parental leave, statutory sick pay, protections for pregnant workers, protections from unfair dismissal after 6 months, and the right to an offer of guaranteed hours contracts.

The picture of what this Act will look like in practise remains far from complete. The protracted battle between the Commons and Lords resulted in many concessions in the areas of unfair dismissal, fire and rehire and compensation – with the Government committing to impact assessments and further consultation on measures in an effort to strike compromise across the Houses. While the Act has now finally received Royal Assent, the government’s implementation period extends to 2027, with the more critical measures relating to the pernicious issues of zero-hours contracts, unfair dismissal and fire and rehire have all been pushed as far back at 2027 and the end of 2026.

Further, there is much more beyond the Act that is still yet to be addressed by the Government, despite their inclusion in the New Deal for Working People, which went on to form the Plan to Make Work Pay. These include reform of TUPE, single worker status, and the introduction of sectoral collective bargaining.

The trade union movement has welcomed the delivery of the Employment Rights Act, which will see most of the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Minimum Service Levels (Strikes) Act 2023 being repealed imminently, alongside the introduction of e-balloting and new access and recognition rights.

TUC General Secretary, Paul Nowak, said:

This is a landmark day for millions of workers. The Employment Rights Act represents the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation. It will deliver common sense changes like banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, protecting workers from harassment and sick pay for all – and so much more.

These are hard-won rights that the union movement and workers have long campaigned for. For too long, we have lagged behind our European counterparts on workers’ rights. This legislation takes us closer to the mainstream.

The Minister for Employment Rights, Kate Dearden, said:

Today is a landmark day in Britain, with over 15 million working people set to benefit from the Employment Rights Act. These aren’t just statistics – these are real people with real families. The Act will help save workers in some of the most deprived areas up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work, and support working families to juggle the demands of work and raising children.