TIMETABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT

TIMETABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT

As branches will be aware, the Employment Rights Act received Royal assent on the 18^th Decemberand has now become law. As reported in LTB 276/25, there will be a staggered implementation of different aspects of the legislation.

Attached to this LTB is a timetable for this process which sets out when the provisions of the Act will be introduced. This is based on the government’s timeline^[1] and includes some additional detail in relation to the Certification Officer, political funds, and the simplification of industrial action ballot papers and notices to the employer.

As the timetable shows, many of the new trade union rights will take effect from 18^th February 2026, including:

• Repealing many parts of the restrictive Trade Union Act 2016
• Removal of the 12-week limit on industrial action dismissal protection
• The simplification of industrial action and ballot notices
• Ending the requirement for unions to appoint a picket supervisor
• Removal of the 10-year ballot requirement for trade union political funds 
• New members automatically ‘opted in’ to political fund contributions.

Several further trade union rights are due to be implemented between April and October 2026, including:

• Measures to simplify the trade union recognition process
• Establishment of the Fair Work Agency to enforce employment standards.
• Electronic and workplace balloting for statutory ballots
• New rules on rights for trade unions to access workplaces
• A new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
• Measures governing unfair practices in the trade union recognition process
• New rights and protections for trade union representatives 
• Extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action.

Together with trade union rights, there are also many individual rights being introduced under the Employment Rights Act, including for example:

• Rights to Statutory Sick Pay from day one of sickness and for workers earning below the current Lower Earnings Limit (April 2026)
• Requiring employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees (October 2026)
• Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers (2027)
• Bereavement leave including pregnancy loss (2027)
• Ending the exploitative use of zero hours contracts (2027)

This legislation represents a substantial improvement in UK employment rights and a major reversal of anti-trade union law that was introduced by successive Conservative governments. It has been hard won by unions after nearly a decade of campaigning and the CWU can be extremely proud of the role we have played in securing these important changes through our New Deal for Workers campaign. 

We will continue to campaign for the swift and effective implementation of the policies set out in this timetable. We will also continue to push for the measures that were part of our New Deal campaign, which are not included in the Act but which the government is considering as part of the Make Work Pay manifesto commitments. This includes taking further action on the gig economy, introducing further sectoral collective bargaining measures, protecting workers from surveillance at work and creating a single status of worker.

We will keep branches updated with the progress of these other initiatives as developments occur.

If you have any questions, please contact the General Secretary’s department at dlynch@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely                              

Dave Ward                                                    

General Secretary

[1] Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update

Published 3 February 2026 Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update – GOV.UK

LTB 046/26 – TIMETABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT

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