| Date | What changes | Impact on employers |
|---|---|---|
| 18 February 2026 | Trade union law reforms take effect | Simpler industrial action rules and stronger protections for industrial action activity |
| 6 April 2026 | SSP expansion and higher redundancy awards | More employees qualify for SSP and redundancy breaches carry higher financial exposure |
| 7 April 2026 | Fair Work Agency established | More coordinated and assertive enforcement of employment rights |
| Aug–Oct 2026 | Union access and harassment duties expand | Greater workplace access for unions and tighter harassment prevention obligations |
| January 2027 | Unfair dismissal rules change | Six-month qualifying period and uncapped compensation apply to dismissals |
Measures already in force
Certain provisions took effect immediately on Royal Assent in December 2025. These include the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.
Employers in affected sectors should already be operating on the basis that statutory minimum service level requirements no longer apply.
Measures taking effect from 18 February 2026
A substantial package of trade union reforms comes into force on 18 February 2026. These include the repeal of the great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016, simplifying requirements around industrial action and political funds.
The same date also brings strengthened protections against dismissal for taking industrial action and procedural changes around industrial action notices and ballots. Employees newly eligible for Day 1 Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave are also able to give notice from this point.
These changes sit early in the new timetable and require updates to policies, template documents and manager guidance well ahead of April 2026.
Measures taking effect from 6 April 2026
Early April 2026 marks one of the densest implementation points in the revised timeline.
From 6 April 2026, the maximum collective redundancy protective award doubles, increasing financial exposure where consultation obligations are breached. Statutory Sick Pay changes also take effect on this date, with the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit and the waiting period, bringing a much wider group of employees into scope.
Day 1 Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave become fully effective, alongside strengthened whistleblowing protections relating to sexual harassment. Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave is also introduced, allowing up to 52 weeks’ leave where a mother or primary adopter dies within the first year.
The Government also confirms the introduction of voluntary action plans on gender equality and menopause support, supported by new menopause guidance. While voluntary at this stage, these measures signal clearly where future mandatory obligations are heading.
Establishment of the Fair Work Agency
The updated timetable provides clarity on enforcement infrastructure. The Fair Work Agency will be formally established on 7 April 2026.
From this point, the employment enforcement landscape begins to shift. Even where substantive duties follow later, April 2026 marks the point at which employers should expect a more coordinated and assertive approach to enforcement across multiple employment rights.
Measures taking effect no earlier than August and October 2026
Electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots will take effect no earlier than August 2026. This reform was previously grouped with October 2026 changes and has now been separated out.
October 2026 remains a key cluster for trade union and workplace protections. These include expanded trade union access rights, new rights and protections for representatives, duties to inform workers of their right to join a trade union and extended protections against detriment for industrial action.
Sexual harassment reforms also sit here, including a duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment, an obligation not to permit third-party harassment and a regulation-making power to specify what steps count as reasonable.
Employment tribunal time limit changes are now described as taking effect no earlier than October 2026, expressly leaving room for slippage beyond that point.
January 2027 reforms
The revised timetable confirms that the reduction of the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months and the removal of the compensatory award cap will take effect from January 2027.
The reduction applies to dismissals from 1 January 2027 onwards, rather than employment start dates. Fire and rehire protections, previously expected in October 2026, are also now scheduled for 2027.
These changes materially extend the preparation window for employers facing a much lower threshold for unfair dismissal risk and uncapped compensation exposure.
Measures scheduled across 2027
The Government continues to work towards delivering a further tranche of reforms during 2027. These include mandatory gender equality and menopause action plans, enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers, regulation of umbrella companies, changes to collective consultation thresholds, flexible working reforms, expanded bereavement leave including pregnancy loss, restrictions on zero-hours contracts and further extensions of electronic and workplace balloting.
The timetable confirms that these dates remain under review as consultation continues.
DavidsonMorris Strategic Insight
The change here is not delay. It is sequencing.
The Government has moved the most headline-grabbing liabilities into 2027, but it has deliberately front-loaded the enforcement and leverage mechanisms into 2026. That is not accidental. It changes how risk will be felt long before unfair dismissal thresholds fall.
From April 2026, employers are dealing with a wider SSP population, materially higher collective redundancy exposure and a new Fair Work Agency designed to take a more joined-up enforcement role. At the same time, trade unions gain stronger access rights and procedural advantages, and whistleblowing protection around sexual harassment tightens.
When the six-month qualifying period and uncapped compensation arrive in January 2027, they land into that environment. Not the one employers are used to, but one where complaints escalate faster, enforcement is more coordinated and exits are scrutinised much earlier in the employment relationship.
The mistake employers make is treating 2026 as breathing space. It is not. It is the build-up phase. Workforce structures, probation practices, documentation discipline and manager behaviour all need to be adjusted before the dismissal rules change, not after.
The updated roadmap buys time. It does not soften the landing.
