Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: UK ERA changes in force in October 2026

At a glance

• The next major tranche of reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) come into force in October 2026.  

• One change will come into force at the beginning of the month and others at the end, and one expected October change has been pushed back to January 2027. 

• The changes mostly relate to trade unions and harassment. 

The next major tranche of reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) come into force in October 2026. One change will come into force at the beginning of the month and others at the end, and one expected October change has been pushed back to January 2027. 

Measures that take effect on 1 October 2026

The time limit for bringing a claim to the Employment Tribunal increases from 3 to 6 months. However, for breach of employment contract claims in Scotland this change will take place on 9 November 2026. 

The new time limit will apply where the ‘relevant date’ is on or after 1 October. In the majority of cases, that will be the date of the act, conduct or failure complained of (or the last in a series of acts or failures) but a Schedule to the regulations sets out the relevant date for several other claims. The relevant date for claims for a statement of initial employment particulars, statement of changes or itemised pay statement) where employment has terminated is the date on which the employment ceased. 

The days when employers could relax at around the three-month mark are already long gone. Since ACAS early conciliation was introduced in 2014, time limits have been extended by the period of early conciliation with the effect that in some circumstances an employee could have closer to five months to file their ET1. 

The mechanics of the ‘stop the clock’ provisions remain unchanged; submitting an early conciliation form to ACAS pauses the time limit, and time begins to run again only when the certificate is deemed to have been received.  In combination, the six-month claim limit and the twelve-week early conciliation period (extended from six weeks in December 2025) mean that, in practice, the total elapsed time from the act complained of to the last possible date for submitting a claim could extend well beyond six months. This gives parties significantly more room for pre-claim negotiation and settlement but also makes it potentially likely that more claims will be filed, increasing pressure on an already creaking tribunal system. 

Measures that will take effect on 30 October 2026 

The trade union measures taking effect are: 

• Trade unions’ right of access to the workplace. 

• Implementing reforms to access and unfair practices during the recognition and derecognition process, and all remaining trade union recognition measures, including freezing the bargaining unit when an application is received. 

• New rights and protections for trade union representatives. 

• Extending protection against detriments for taking industrial action. 

The duty to inform employees of their right to join a trade union has been delayed until January 2027. 

The harassment measures taking effect are: 

• Requiring employers to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. 

• Introducing an obligation on employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties. 

• Introducing a power that will enable the government to make regulations at a later date, specifying evidence-based steps which employers must take to prevent sexual harassment (this will complement, not replace, the broader legislative requirement to take all reasonable steps). 

Other measures that will be introduced in October 2026

• Bringing forward regulations to establish the  Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England.

Whilst the most impactful changes under the ERA, notably the changes to unfair dismissal, will not come into force until January 2027, the October changes have the potential to be hugely significant for employers.