Employment Rights Act 2025: An Employer Compliance Checklist

The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in decades. While many of the reforms will be implemented gradually, employers should begin preparing now to ensure compliance and minimise future risk.

The legislation introduces a wide range of changes affecting recruitment, employment contracts, employee relations, family-friendly rights, workplace practices and enforcement. Whilst the full details and implementation dates continue to emerge, employers should start assessing the potential impact on their organisation.

Employer Readiness Checklist

Employment contracts and workforce arrangements

□ Review employment contracts and terms of employment.

□ Assess the use of zero-hours and low-hours contracts.

□ Review arrangements for agency workers.

□ Consider how guaranteed hours provisions may affect workforce planning.

□ Review policies relating to flexible working arrangements.

Family-friendly rights

□ Update parental leave policies.

□ Review paternity leave entitlements.

□ Consider the introduction of day-one rights for eligible employees.

□ Ensure managers understand new family-related protections.

Sickness and wellbeing

□ Review statutory sick pay processes and payroll systems.

□ Update sickness absence policies.

□ Ensure managers understand revised SSP eligibility requirements.

□ Review employee wellbeing support provisions.

Performance management and dismissal

□ Review probationary procedures.

□ Strengthen performance management processes.

□ Ensure disciplinary procedures remain legally compliant.

□ Review organisational approaches to dismissal and employee relations.

□ Consider the implications of proposed changes to unfair dismissal protections.

Harassment and workplace culture

□ Review anti-harassment policies and reporting procedures.

□ Ensure managers are trained to identify and address inappropriate workplace behaviour.

□ Assess workplace culture and employee engagement initiatives.

□ Review whistleblowing procedures and employee reporting channels.

Fire and rehire practices

□ Review organisational restructuring procedures.

□ Assess existing practices involving contractual changes.

□ Ensure consultation processes are robust and legally compliant.

Trade union and collective rights

□ Review employee consultation arrangements.

□ Assess existing trade union relationships and recognition agreements.

□ Ensure HR teams understand the proposed reforms to collective employment rights.

Compliance and enforcement

□ Conduct a full HR compliance audit.

□ Review employee handbook policies.

□ Train managers on legislative changes.

□ Monitor future government guidance and implementation dates.

□ Develop an Employment Rights Act implementation plan.

A wider review may be required

This checklist is not exhaustive. The Employment Rights Act 2025 contains a broad package of reforms, with implementation taking place in phases and further regulations and guidance continuing to emerge.

For employers, the focus should no longer be on whether to prepare, but on whether sufficient preparation has already taken place. Organisations should be reviewing their policies, contracts, management practices and workforce arrangements now to ensure they remain compliant as the reforms continue to take effect.

Employers that have not yet undertaken a comprehensive review of their HR documentation and practices should consider doing so as a priority. Early action can help minimise legal risk, support effective workforce planning and ensure compliance with one of the most significant changes to UK employment law in recent decades.

Professional HR support can help organisations identify potential gaps, understand their obligations and implement the changes required under the Employment Rights Act 2025.