Employment Rights Act
Employment Rights Act (ERA) Timeline: What’s Changed, What’s Coming, and What It Means for Your Workforce
Across the UK, the Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2025 is introducing a series of reforms that will be phased in between 2026 and 2027.
For employers operating in logistics, warehousing, manufacturing and supply chain environments, these changes are already shaping workforce planning discussions.
But it’s important to be clear from the outset:
This isn’t about fundamentally changing how you hire. It’s about how workforce processes are managed, structured, and governed.
Why UK Employment Law is Changing
The Employment Rights Act reforms don’t appear in isolation. They reflect a broader shift in the UK labour market over recent years.
Pre-2020: Established Flexible Workforce Models
Before recent reforms, most operational sectors were already built on:
- A mix of permanent and temporary labour
- Flexible workforce models to manage demand fluctuations
- Established compliance frameworks such as AWR and working time regulations
These models remain in place today. The Employment Rights Act reforms don’t appear in isolation. They reflect a broader shift in the UK labour market over recent years.
2020–2022: Increased Focus on Worker Protection
During and after the pandemic, several trends accelerated:
- Greater attention on worker welfare and treatment
- Increased demand for flexible working arrangements
- Stronger focus on transparency across labour supply chains
2023–2025: Labour Market Pressure and Policy Direction
As labour shortages and rising costs affected operational sectors:
- Competition for workers increased
- Workforce planning became more complex
- Government direction moved toward:
- Earlier employment protections
- Clearer working arrangements
- Increased enforcement visibility
This set the foundation for the current ERA reforms.
Where We Are Now
The Employment Rights Act 2025 builds on these trends.
For most employers, the key point is: This is a continuation of existing direction, not a sudden shift in how workforce models operate.
ERA Timeline: What’s Happened and What’s Ahead
The reforms are being introduced in stages. Understanding the timeline helps separate what requires action now from what is still developing.
April 2026 – Statutory Sick Pay, Day One Entitlement
Statutory Sick Pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence rather than the fourth, and the Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, expanding eligibility. The reform applies to eligible workers, including agency workers.
What this means in practice:
- Potential increase in baseline absence costs
- Greater importance of tracking attendance and absence patterns
This is primarily a cost modelling consideration, particularly for high-volume workforces. Further detail on Statutory Sick Pay and eligibility can be found on the official GOV.UK guidance: https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay
2026 Onwards — Fair Work Agency Introduced
A new enforcement body will bring together multiple regulators into a single organisation overseeing employment standards.
What this means in practice:
- Increased visibility across labour supply chains
- Greater focus on supplier compliance and transparency
For many organisations, this reinforces the need to work with trusted, compliant workforce partners.
Late 2026 (Anticipated) — Fire and Rehire Restrictions
New rules are expected to restrict dismissal and re-engagement used to impose changes to pay, working hours or holiday entitlement, subject to final regulations and commencement provisions.
What this means in practice:
- More structured approach required when changing pay, hours or conditions
- Greater reliance on consistent HR processes and documentation
This is a governance and process discipline change, not a workforce model change. ACAS provides guidance on changing employment contracts and employer responsibilities
January 2027 — Unfair Dismissal Qualifying Period Reduced
From January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection is expected to reduce from two years to six months.
What this means in practice:
- Greater importance of:
- Structured probation periods
- Consistent management practices
- Clear documentation
For multi-site operations, consistency across locations becomes critical. Employers can review current guidance on unfair dismissal via GOV.UK and ACAS.
2027 (Anticipated) — Guaranteed Hours for Regular Patterns
Reforms are expected to introduce guaranteed hours obligations where workers regularly work consistent patterns, subject to secondary legislation and final regulations.
What this means in practice:
- Increased visibility of working patterns
- Potential need to formalise regular shift arrangements
What Has Not Changed
One of the most important points for employers is what the legislation does not do.
Temporary workforce models remain viable
- Agency labour is not restricted or prohibited
- Flexible workforce models remain widely used across operational sectors
You do not need to move to a fully permanent workforce
- Organisations will continue to use a blend of temporary and permanent labour
There is no requirement for immediate change
- The reforms are phased
- Most businesses are taking a measured, gradual approach
Employer responsibility structure remains the same
- Employment obligations continue to sit with the direct employer
There is no broad transfer of responsibility to end hirers
The Real Shift: From Workforce Structure to Workforce Management
The consistent theme across ERA reforms is this:
The focus is shifting from how your workforce is structured, to how it is managed.
Across the market, four key planning areas are emerging:
- Workforce Cost Modelling
Changes such as day-one SSP are prompting organisations to:
- review absence assumptions
- improve cost visibility
Reassess workforce budgets
- Governance and Process Discipline
Earlier employment protections mean:
- HR processes must be applied consistently
- documentation becomes more important
line manager capability matters more
- Workforce Visibility
Organisations may need clearer insight into:
- working patterns
- shift regularity
- workforce utilisation
- Labour Supply Chain Oversight
With increased enforcement visibility:
- supplier compliance is under greater scrutiny
- payroll transparency matters more
- partner selection becomes more strategic
Many employers are now reviewing workforce visibility, compliance reporting and agency workforce structures ahead of the ERA reforms.
How Employers Should Prepare for ERA 2025
Most organisations are not making major structural changes.
Instead, the focus is on reviewing and strengthening existing processes.
Practical areas to focus on:
- Reviewing absence tracking and cost assumptions
- Ensuring probation processes are clearly structured
- Improving visibility of workforce scheduling
- Understanding how your labour supply chain operates
Working with compliant, transparent recruitment partners
Looking Ahead: Planning with Confidence
The next 12–24 months will be shaped by:
- phased implementation of reforms
- further detail through secondary legislation
- increasing regulatory visibility
Organisations that:
- maintain clear workforce visibility
- apply consistent processes
- and work with reliable partners
…will be well positioned to navigate these changes with confidence.
How The Best Connection Can Help
We work with businesses across logistics, warehousing, manufacturing and supply chain sectors to help manage workforce complexity day to day — and through periods of change.
We provide:
- compliant, transparent PAYE workforce models
- consistent recruitment and onboarding processes
- visibility across workforce supply
- flexible staffing solutions that support operational demand
As employment requirements evolve, we continue to support our clients with clear, practical guidance tailored to their workforce model.
Contact us today.
Call: 0121 504 3090
Email: sales.enquiries@thebestconnection.co.uk
Find Your Local Branch
For full updates on UK employment legislation, you can refer to official government resources here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-law
This overview reflects legislation as enacted and Government guidance available at the time of writing. Certain provisions remain subject to secondary legislation and further clarification.
About The Best Connection
The Best Connection is one of the UK’s leading providers of temporary workforce solutions. For over 35 years, we have proudly served and supported our clients and candidates across multiple industry sectors, delivering our best-in-class customer service.
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