Employment Rights Bill – the whats and whens of the trade union-related reforms
Release Date: 11/17/2025
Flexible working – tips to achieve best practice now
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
There have been many significant legislative shifts in relation to flexible working in recent years, of course, and under the Employment Rights Act 2025 we are promised further changes. joins the podcast to look at the way flexible working is transforming employee expectations and workplace culture, and to offer some ideas about what best practice looks like in this new era. Resources
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Employment Rights Act 2025 – the trade union reforms reshaping industrial relations
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Brightmine legal editor Lilia Dangi joins the podcast to talk through recent and upcoming trade union-related reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025. She discusses how these changes are modernising industrial relations and rebalancing the relationship between employers and unions, and looks in particular at: the new duty to inform workers of their right to join a union; unions' right of access to the workplace; and the role of the Fair Work Agency. Tune in to hear what employers need to know, and how these reforms could reshape the future of industrial relations. Related resources ...
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Employment Rights Act 2025 harassment changes - a fresh perspective from the high seas
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Some major changes are coming to the harassment laws in October. Global inequalities specialist – and licensed skipper – Georgie Williams joins the podcast to talk about what it’s like to draw up an anti-harassment policy on a ship. What does it mean when you can’t “clock off” and go home in the way you can with land-based office jobs? How does this change dynamics? What challenges does this raise? Resources
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Employment Rights Act special – how organisation design can help businesses in a period of profound change
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Organisation design expert and founder Lilian Duckart joins Brightmine HR strategy and practice editor Laura Kimpton to discuss how HR departments can use organisation design to meet the changing needs of their business - and how AI can help. Resources
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The AI challenge - adjust your performance expectations and measurements now!
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Research suggests that AI is making a nonsense of the traditional equivalence between output and productivity and creating a new category of worker: the person who is thriving themselves into exhaustion. Jeremy Hollander joins the podcast to discuss how HR can tackle these issues by upgrading productivity measurements to distinguish sustainable high performance from intensity that is destined to end in burnout. Related resources
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Gender pay gap reporting – lessons learned and what comes next
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Pay gap reporting is about to get an important upgrade. Michelle Gyimah, pay gap strategist and founder of , joins the podcast to break down what the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes really mean - and how HR can get ahead of the likely next wave: ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. Resources
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Pay reviews in 2026 – balancing budgetary pressures and employee expectations
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
With early pay awards showing signs of growth, joins the podcast to dig into what the data tells us about pay award plans for the year ahead, and how employers can navigate the growing tension between affordability and employee expectations. Related resources
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Employment Rights Act 2025 - why HR should review its probationary process before July 2026
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
The Employment Rights Act 2025 marks a major shift in unfair dismissal law. From January 2027, the qualifying period will drop from two years to six months - applying retrospectively to employees hired from July 2026 - and the cap on compensatory awards will be removed altogether. Stephen Simpson, principal editor at Brightmine, joins the podcast to break down the changes and share practical steps HR should be taking now to prepare. Related resources
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Employment Rights Act 2025 – will women in the workplace benefit?
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
, author of , joins the podcast to discuss measures in the Government's Employment Rights Act 2025 - harassment and flexible working reforms, menopause action plans - and set out ways in which employers and employees alike can benefit from the forthcoming legislative changes. Related resources
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Wellbeing that works - what the research tells us
The Brightmine Podcast (UK)
Neurodiversity. Menopause. Men's health. What are organisations doing and what should they be doing to truly support the wellbeing of their people? Brightmine HR data insight analysts Hannah Mason and Vernujaa Nagandiram join the podcast to reveal surprising trends and share their latest research insights. Tune in now and discover what your organisation could be doing better - starting today. Related resources
info_outlineWith the Employment Rights Bill nearing the end of its journey through Parliament, Laura Merrylees, senior legal editor at Brightmine, is joined by Nick Chronias, a partner at DAC Beachcroft, to discuss the Bill's many trade union-related changes and provide a phase-by-phase guide to how HR departments can prepare for their implementation.
Related resources
Employment Rights Bill: 10 key policies employers need to revamp
On your radar: Employment Rights Bill updates and HR mythbusting
Podcast: Employment Rights Bill - where we are now, what to expect next
Webinar: Getting probationary periods right as Employment Rights Bill changes loom
Key takeaways
- Phased rollout: Changes will begin two months after Royal Assent, with major reforms in April and October 2026, and final measures in 2027.
- Union ballots: Unions will be able to organise industrial action ballots more easily, with less information required and a reduced notice period (from 14 to 10 days). The rule requiring 50% turnout is still being debated.
- Union recognition: From April 2026, unions face lower hurdles for official recognition, including reduced membership and turnout thresholds.
- Workplace access: Starting in October 2026, unions will gain rights to access workplaces (physically and digitally), with strict timelines for employer responses and agreements.
- Informing staff: Employers must regularly inform employees of their right to join a union - new starters should get written statements, and existing staff receive annual reminders.
- Protections for union activity: Employees and union reps will be protected from penalties (other than pay deductions) for participating in official industrial action.
- Enforcement and consultations: Government consultations on these reforms are open until December 2025; breaches of access agreements may result in substantial fines (£75,000 per breach).
- Employer impact: All employers should update policies and prepare for shorter timelines, new communication duties and increased union engagement.