The Upcoming Employment Law Changes UK Businesses Need to Prepare For

If your organisation spent the first part of 2026 getting to grips with the April changes, it would be reasonable to feel like the hard work is done. In reality, it’s just beginning.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is a phased piece of legislation, and April was only the first wave. Further reforms are coming in October 2026 and through 2027, and some of them carry more significant operational implications than the changes already in force.

This article looks at the upcoming employment law changes in the UK, and why treating compliance as an ongoing process is becoming essential.

The Employment Law Changes Arriving in October 2026

While the April changes focused on areas such as sick pay, family leave, and record-keeping, further reforms will continue to raise expectations around how employee issues are managed in practice.

Extended Tribunal Time Limits

From October 2026, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims is expected to increase from three months to six. This may sound like a straightforward procedural change, but the implications are more significant.

A longer window for claims means issues can surface much later than organisations are used to. In practice, HR teams may find themselves dealing with cases several months after the original events took place, making it more difficult to reconstruct what happened without clear and well-maintained records.

That has direct implications for how long case records need to be kept, how reliably they need to be maintained, and how clear the documentation needs to be for events that may feel very distant by the time they’re scrutinised.

The extended window will also likely increase the volume of tribunal claims. Employees who previously missed the three-month deadline, often simply because they did not seek advice quickly enough, will now have more time to act. For HR teams, that means a wider pool of potential claims and a longer period of uncertainty after any disputed decision.

Third-Party Harassment Liability

Also from October 2026, employers will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of their employees by third parties.

This is a particularly significant change for organisations in customer-facing sectors, where staff regularly interact with members of the public, contractors, or suppliers. Employers will not only need to have robust policies in place, but they’ll need to be able to demonstrate that those policies are actively embedded, that staff know how to report concerns, and that reports are handled consistently and promptly.

Upcoming UK Employment Law Changes in 2027

The reforms expected in 2027 build on the changes already introduced. While not exhaustive, the following are some of the most significant for HR teams to be aware of.

Unfair Dismissal Qualifying Period and Compensation Cap

As explored in our article on probation and the new unfair dismissal rules, this is one of the most consequential changes in the entire Act. From January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal reduces from two years to six months, and the statutory compensation cap is removed entirely.

We’ve covered this in much more detail, but the point worth reiterating here is that the impact is already live for organisations hiring now. Anyone employed from July 2026 onwards will gain unfair dismissal protection in January 2027, so decisions being made today about performance, probation, and early conduct need to reflect that reality.

Zero-Hours Contract Reforms

Workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts are expected to gain the right to a guaranteed hours offer, reflecting the hours they have regularly worked. Employers will also be expected to provide reasonable notice of shifts, and to pay workers if a shift is cancelled, moved, or cut short.

For organisations that rely heavily on flexible or casual labour, this introduces a new layer of process and documentation. Tracking actual hours worked and issuing or responding to guaranteed hours offers will require systems that can do this reliably and at scale - not ad hoc management through spreadsheets.

Flexible Working Changes

Employers will be expected to justify any refusal of a flexible working request by reference to a defined list of eight acceptable business reasons, and to explain why their refusal is reasonable in the circumstances.

Employees will also have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, rather than after 26 weeks’ service, bringing these considerations into play much earlier in the employment relationship.

Doing this already reflects good practice, but as of 2027, it will become a legal requirement - with the implication that poorly reasoned or undocumented refusals will carry greater risk.

Flexible working requests also carry a higher level of risk than many organisations anticipate, as they can give rise to both direct and indirect discrimination claims, particularly in relation to sex, disability, or pregnancy. That means decisions need to be not only well-reasoned, but demonstrably fair and consistent.

Collective Redundancy Threshold Changes

Proposed changes to collective redundancy rules are expected to introduce an additional, organisation-wide threshold alongside the existing trigger of 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days.

While the precise threshold has yet to be confirmed, the intention is to capture large-scale redundancy programmes that are spread across multiple sites. In practice, this means employers may need to consider collective consultation obligations even where no single location reaches the current threshold.

For organisations managing workforce changes across multiple locations, this is likely to require a more joined-up approach to monitoring and coordinating redundancy proposals, with greater visibility across the business as a whole.

Alongside these structural changes, the financial risk of getting collective redundancy processes wrong is also increasing. From April 2026, the protective award is expected to double from 90 to 180 days’ pay. This significantly raises the cost of non-compliance, particularly in large-scale redundancy programmes, reinforcing the need for a coordinated and well-documented approach across the organisation.

Why These Changes Require a Different Approach from HR Teams

Taken individually, each of these changes is manageable. But looked at together, they point to something broader.

Employee rights are being extended earlier in the employment relationship, the window for claims is increasing, and the expectation that organisations can demonstrate fair, consistent processes is becoming more pronounced. That combination means risk appears much earlier in the employment lifecycle.

Situations that might previously have been handled informally - things like early performance concerns or flexible working requests - now carry greater expectations around how they’re managed and documented. So, as the margin for inconsistency narrows, the consequences of getting it wrong increase.

For a lot of organisations, employment law changes are approached as a project. Policies are updated, and training is delivered in response to a specific change. But that approach doesn’t hold up when the change is phased and continuous.

With reforms spread across 2026 and 2027, the challenge is more than just understanding what the law requires; it’s ensuring that day-to-day HR activity is managed in a way that can adapt as expectations evolve.

How HR Teams Can Prepare for Ongoing Employment Law Changes

So, how do you respond in practice? There are a few immediate steps HR teams can take.

Put Structure Around Early-Stage Decisions

Start by tightening how common scenarios are handled, particularly during onboarding, probation, absence, and flexible working requests. These are the situations most likely to carry increased risk under the new framework. Make sure there is a clear, repeatable process for each, and that managers understand what is expected of them.

Build Documentation Into the Process

Don’t rely on documentation being added later. Capture decisions, conversations, and outcomes as they happen. That includes:

• What was discussed
• What expectations were set
• What actions were taken

If a situation is revisited months later, the record should stand on its own without needing to be reconstructed.

Create Visibility Across Employee Relations Activity

Many risks only become visible when you can see patterns. Make sure there is a central view of employee relations activity across the organisation, not just individual cases managed in isolation. This makes it easier to spot inconsistencies and intervene early.

Align Managers Around a Consistent Approach

Most early-stage decisions sit with line managers, so consistency between team leads is critical. Provide clear guidance for common scenarios, reinforce expectations regularly, and ensure there is a straightforward route for escalation when needed. The goal isn’t to remove individual judgement, but to make sure it’s applied within a consistent framework.

Review Processes Against What’s Coming Next

Finally, sense-check your current processes against upcoming changes. Ask simple questions:

• Would this process still hold up if reviewed six months later?
• Could we clearly evidence how this decision was made?
• Would similar situations be handled the same way across different teams?

If the answer is unclear, that’s where to focus first.

How Workpro Supports Ongoing Compliance

The Employment Rights Act isn’t a one-and-done kind of project. Each phase raises the bar a little further, and for HR teams, compliance is an ongoing operational requirement.

Workpro’s HR case management software is designed to support that reality. Rather than a system that needs to be reconfigured every time something changes, it provides the underlying infrastructure that makes ongoing compliance manageable: central case capture, structured and configurable workflows, and a full auditable record of every decision, document, and communication. Alerts, reminders, and task ownership help ensure that processes are followed consistently, while reporting and dashboards provide visibility across all employee relations activity.

As the Employment Rights Act continues to roll out, that combination of structure, consistency, and visibility allows HR teams to manage change proactively, rather than reactively.

To see how Workpro supports HR and ER teams through the Employment Rights Act rollout, book a demo with our team.