Navigating the Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Law team at Charles Russell Speechlys are pleased to be hosting their latest HR Breakfast Club event: a panel discussion designed to help HR professionals and business leaders understand and prepare for the significant changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents the most substantial overhaul of UK employment law in over a generation. With reforms being implemented in phases throughout 2026 and 2027, now is the time for employers to understand their new obligations and adapt their policies, contracts, and processes accordingly.

Charles Russell Speechlys' Ben Smith and Nick Hurley will be joined by Sarah Fraser Butlin KC from Cloisters Chambers, as they guide you through the key reforms and provide practical, actionable guidance to help your organisation navigate these changes with confidence. We will focus on the following key areas:

• Unfair dismissal reforms: The reduction of the qualifying period from two years to six months (effective January 2027) and the removal of the statutory compensation cap, which could significantly increase employer exposure, particularly for senior employees and high earners.
• Fire and rehire restrictions: New rules making dismissals for failing to agree to changes in core contractual terms (such as pay, working hours, pensions, and shift patterns) automatically unfair, except in cases of genuine financial distress.
• Zero-hours contracts: The introduction of rights to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, and payments for short-notice cancellation, including new protections for agency workers.
• Sexual harassment prevention: The enhanced duty on employers to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent harassment, including new liability for third-party harassment and strengthened whistleblowing protections for those reporting sexual harassment.
• Collective redundancy obligations: Tightened consultation requirements and the doubling of the maximum protective award from 90 to 180 days' pay.
• The Fair Work Agency: The establishment of a new enforcement body with expanded powers to investigate and enforce employment rights, including holiday pay and statutory sick pay.