Employment Rights Act: What HR Needs to Address Before October 2026
- 5 Min Read
October will mark another major milestone in the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025, bringing changes to Employment Tribunal time limits, harassment prevention and trade union rights. With less than two months to prepare, HR leaders should be moving from understanding the legislation to testing whether their policies, managers and processes are ready.
- Author: HRD Connect
- Date published: Aug 13, 2026
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The Government’s updated implementation timetable confirms that several measures will take effect during October 2026, with further significant reforms following in January and throughout 2027.
For employers, preparation should not simply involve rewriting policies. The changes increase the importance of record keeping, manager capability, risk assessment and consistent application of employment processes.
Employment Tribunal claims will have a longer window
One of the first changes arrives on 1 October 2026, when the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increases from three months to six months.
The new six-month limit will generally apply where the relevant act or failure occurs on or after 1 October. For a continuing series of acts, it will apply where the final relevant act occurs on or after that date. The practical consequence is that employers could face disputes considerably longer after an incident has occurred.
That makes good documentation even more important. A manager handling a performance conversation in October could potentially need to explain the circumstances surrounding that decision many months later.
HR should therefore review how performance conversations, grievances, disciplinary action, flexible working decisions and other employment matters are documented and retained. Managers should understand that informal decisions can still become important evidence later.
Harassment prevention moves from ‘reasonable’ to ‘all reasonable’ steps
A second major change takes effect on 30 October. Employers are already required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The Employment Rights Act strengthens this obligation to require employers to take “all reasonable steps”.
Employers will also have an obligation not to permit third-party harassment, including harassment involving customers, clients, service users and members of the public. This is particularly relevant for organisations operating in customer-facing environments.
A hospitality employer, for example, should consider the risks faced by employees dealing with customers late at night. A professional services business may need to consider interactions between junior employees and clients. Healthcare and retail employers may need procedures for situations involving patients, customers or members of the public.
Recent EHRC research reinforces why a risk-based approach matters. Its June 2026 report identified hierarchical workplaces, male-dominated environments, insecure employment and low-paid work among factors associated with greater harassment risk. It also concluded that policies alone are insufficient unless they are consistently implemented and regularly reviewed.
HR should therefore revisit existing harassment risk assessments rather than simply updating the wording of a policy.
Trade union responsibilities are expanding
A substantial package of trade union reforms will also take effect on 30 October.
These include a new duty to inform workers about their right to join a trade union, stronger rights of trade union access, changes to recognition and derecognition processes, new protections for union representatives and stronger protections against detriment for participating in industrial action.
For organisations with recognised unions, this should prompt a review of existing employee relations processes and consultation arrangements. But employers without significant union representation should not assume the reforms are irrelevant. HR teams should understand how employees will be informed of their rights and ensure managers know how to respond appropriately to union activity.
Public sector and social care employers face additional changes
Regulations are expected in October to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England, which will ultimately negotiate issues including pay, terms and conditions, training and career progression for the adult social care workforce. The first negotiations are expected to begin in April 2027.
The Government also intends to reinstate the two-tier code in public procurement, designed to ensure outsourced private-sector employees receive terms and conditions no less favourable than employees transferred from the public sector. Further detail is still required.
What should HR do before October?
The volume of reform makes it tempting to approach the Employment Rights Act as a succession of policy updates. A more effective approach is to identify where each change creates operational risk.
Before October, HR leaders should:
- Audit employment policies against the confirmed October changes and identify where revisions are required.
- Review harassment risk assessments, including risks created by customers, clients and other third parties.
- Train managers on harassment prevention, record keeping and the implications of longer Tribunal claim periods.
- Test documentation practices to ensure important employment decisions can still be understood and evidenced months later.
- Review trade union processes and communications, particularly ahead of the 30 October changes.
- Identify higher-risk environments, teams and roles rather than relying on organisation-wide policies alone.
- Create an implementation calendar covering October, January 2027 and the subsequent reforms expected during 2027.
October is only the next deadline
Preparation should also look beyond October.
From 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal protection will apply after six months rather than two years, while the cap on compensatory awards will be removed. Further measures expected during 2027 include enhanced protections for pregnant employees and new mothers, changes to flexible working, guaranteed-hours rights, bereavement leave and mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans.
For HR leaders, the months ahead should therefore be treated as a broader readiness programme rather than a single compliance deadline.
The organisations best prepared for the Employment Rights Act will not necessarily be those with the longest policies. They will be those that can demonstrate that managers understand their responsibilities, workplace risks are actively assessed, decisions are properly documented and employment practices consistently reflect the protections written into those policies.
October 2026 is the next test of that readiness.
