Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA25): Key changes to consider
The rules on employment law can feel complex and fast‑moving, particularly for business owners and managers juggling multiple demands. This is especially as the Employment Rights Act 2025 brings even more changes to the employment law landscape.
Our employment team are supporting employers to prepare for the changes by delivering focused training considering practical issues and the steps businesses should take to stay compliant, reduce risk and manage people with confidence. The team highlights the key areas of the Act that their training covers in the following summary.
Time is money
Tribunal hearings are already taking upwards of two years to be heard. A predicted effect of the ERA25 when it is fully rolled out is that waiting times will only get longer. We consider the likely dates from when new rules will come into force as well as ways to avoid claims from being initiated or from claims hanging over businesses for years, absorbing time and money while damaging morale.
Preventing claims at the point they would otherwise arise is the most cost-effective protection available.
Understanding the limits
ERA25 has not rewritten employment law, but it has shifted the limits of where the risks lie with shorter qualifying periods for unfair dismissal, extended time limits for claims, tighter rules on fire and rehire and collective consultation as well as granting rights to staff from day one and removing the cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal claims.
Our employment team helps managers manage risk as well as staff, but the risks must be understood first in order to be managed.
More rights for unions
ERA25 repeals much of the old union laws and tilts the balance materially in favour of organised labour. Recognition will become easier to secure on lower voting thresholds and employers will be under a positive duty to inform staff of their right to join a union. Unions will gain a statutory right of access to the workplace and union representatives will have new rights to time off and reasonable facilities with penalties of up to £500,000 for non-compliant employers. Workplaces that have never engaged with a union should expect the question to arise, and employers who already recognise one should expect a more confident and better-organised counterparty at the table.
We help businesses understand the new obligations and navigate them.
Introduction of the Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency is a new, state-backed regulator consolidating enforcement of the national minimum wage, statutory sick pay, labour exploitation, holiday pay and modern slavery rules. It will be able to act on its own initiative with powers to inspect, penalise and prosecute.
Employers need to be sure that their systems and policies are up to date and that staff are paid correctly and allowed the appropriate time off.
Practical, employer-focused, grounded in real decisions
These informative training sessions which can be adapted for the specific needs of your business address managers’ day to day responsibilities such as overseeing absence, capability, performance, discipline, grievances, restructures and redundancies and TUPE. Our practitioners understand the challenges faced by employers; TSP's Employment team is commended by the Legal 500, acting for employers across Essex, Suffolk and beyond.
For more information about our training or guidance in navigating the upcoming changes, please call 01206 574431 or email enquiries@tsplegal.com