We’ve prepared a strategic roadmap to ensure your organisation remains fully compliant and protected against legal risk. Below are the key things to consider with the next stages of the ERA 2025 coming into force.
1. Employment Tribunal Time Limits Double (1 October 2026)
From 1 October 2026, the statutory time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims increases from three months to six months.
- What this means: For any alleged act, omission, or dismissal taking place on or after 1 October, employees have double the time to initiate proceedings. Remember that this if the act or omission takes place prior to 1st October, you need to keep to the current 3-month time limits!
- Key Risk: Disputes that appear settled informally may resurface months down the line. HR teams must enforce rigorous contemporaneously documented notes for all internal meetings, disciplinary discussions, and exit procedures.
2. Right to Work Verification Extended to Contractors (1 October 2026)
Regulations under section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 take effect on 1 October, extending Right to Work verification duties beyond formal employment contracts.
- Expanded Scope: Organisations engaging workers, platform staff, and personal service subcontractors must conduct statutory document or digital right to work checks prior to engagement.
- Financial Penalties: Civil penalties stand at up to £45,000 per worker for first breaches and £60,000 for repeat non-compliance. End-user businesses must review supply chain indemnities immediately.
3. The Extended Harassment Duty & Third-Party Protections (30 October 2026)
The statutory duty regarding harassment shifts from taking “reasonable steps” to taking “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment.
- Third-Party Liability: Employers will become legally liable for harassment of employees by third parties (clients, customers, service users, contractors and suppliers) across all protected characteristics, unless they can show that they took all reasonable steps to prevent the third-party harassment.
- Mandatory Action: As a minimum, businesses will need to be able to show that they have up to date risk assessments, up to date policies and harassment reporting protocols, and that they have rolled out training and refreshers in order to rely on the “all reasonable steps” defence.
4. Trade Union Access & Statement Obligations (30 October 2026)
A package of trade union reforms takes effect at the end of October:
- Unions gain structured rights to request physical and digital access to workplaces to recruit and represent workers.
- Expanded time-off rights take effect for union representatives and union equality representatives.
- Importantly, the government announced last Friday (25.09.26) that the duty to inform workers of their trade union rights by providing a statutory written notice has been pushed back from 30.10.26 to January 2027, so for now, this is at least one less thing on the to do list.
Action Steps for HR Leaders This Month:
- Update internal document retention schedules to increase the time limit for retaining documents to a minimum of 12 months.
- Audit recruitment and contractor onboarding workflows to embed Right to Work checks.
- Actively prepare for the changes to the law on harassment: review your policies, conduct risk assessments, and action the outcomes of those risk assessments. Think about your existing contracts and build in provisions regarding harassment, consider your warning notices to customers and roll our training for staff.
Need tailored advice on preparing your workplace policies for Q4? Contact us today.
CONTACT US
We’re here to help with any questions or concerns you may have. Whether you need expert advice or would like an initial conversation about our services, pricing, or the options available, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. At Refreshing Law, what sets us apart from other law firms is that you’ll get to speak to an experienced employment lawyer right from the very first call.
lreynolds@refreshinglawltd.co.uk
Lousha Reynolds
Refreshing Law