01 July 2025
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has just published the Implementation Roadmap for the Employment Rights Bill.
The government has released the timelines in which it intends to deliver the new package of workers’ rights, including the changes to SSP.
The structured timeline has been provided for clarity to allow stakeholders to plan their time and effectively allocate resources to ensure they are ready for the changes. Highlights of the roadmap include:
April 2026:
- Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award to provide stronger financial security for workers facing mass redundancies.
- ‘Day one’ paternity leave and unpaid parental leave to support working families from the very start of employment.
- Whistleblowing protections to encourage reporting of wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.
- Fair work agency established to enforce labour rights and promote fairness in the workplace.
- Statutory sick pay – removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period to ensure all workers can afford to recover from illness without financial hardship.
- A package of trade union measures including simplifying trade union recognition process and electronic and workplace balloting to strengthen democracy and participation in the workplace.
October 2026:
- Ending unscrupulous fire and rehire practices to protect workers from being forced into worse terms under threat of dismissal.
- Regulations to establish the fair pay agreement adult social care negotiating body in England to raise standards and pay in the social care sector.
- Tightening tipping law - strengthen the law on tipping by mandating consultation with workers to ensure fairer tip allocation.
- Requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees to create safer, more respectful workplaces.
- Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties to extend protections to all work environments, including public-facing roles.
- A package of trade union measures including new rights and protections for trade union representatives, extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action and strengthening trade unions’ right of access.
From 2027:
- Gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026) to promote gender equality and support women’s health in the workplace.
- Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers to safeguard job security during pregnancy, maternity leave and a return-to-work period.
- Further harassment protections, specifying reasonable steps which will help determine whether an employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment to provide clearer guidance and stronger enforcement against harassment.
- Creating a modern framework for industrial relations to build a fairer, more collaborative approach to workplace relations.
- Bereavement leave to give workers time to grieve with job security.
- Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts to provide workers with stable hours and predictable income.
- ‘Day 1’ right to protection from unfair dismissal to ensure all workers are treated fairly from the start of employment.
- Improving access to flexible working to help people balance work with family, health, and other responsibilities.
The release also advises that the Government will publish clear and comprehensive guidance in advance of the changes being implemented, to help businesses navigate the new measures.
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