Employment Rights Act 2025: What comes into force on 18th February and how employers should respond 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces wide-ranging reform to UK employment law, much of which will be implemented later in 2026 and beyond. While many of the headline changes sit further down the line, 18th February 2026 is the first point at which the new regime begins to take effect in practice. From that date, employers will be making decisions within a different legal framework in several key areas. 

The February changes are deliberately limited in scope, but they focus on situations where employers are often required to act quickly and with incomplete information. Industrial action, trade union arrangements and certain family-related leave scenarios are all affected. The challenge for employers is not rewriting policies overnight, but understanding how these changes alter the risk profile of everyday decisions. 

Family-related leave 

Although most family-leave reforms under the Employment Rights Act take effect later in the spring, 18th February is the point at which employers may begin to encounter those changes in practice. 

From that date, employees who will become entitled to parental leave and paternity leave under the revised rules coming into force in April can begin submitting formal notices and supporting information in advance. Employers may therefore start receiving leave requests for future entitlements while internal policies are still being updated. 

What tends to cause difficulty in practice is inconsistency. Requests should be acknowledged and recorded in a way that reflects the forthcoming changes, with clear communication about how they will be handled once the April reforms take effect. Relying on outdated policy wording, or applying current rules without explanation, risks confusion that may only surface later. 

February also introduces an immediate change in a limited but significant set of circumstances. Where a child’s mother or primary adopter has died, under the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act paternity leave becomes a day-one right, removing any minimum service requirement. While such cases will be rare, they require swift and sensitive handling. Employers should ensure that those responsible for managing leave requests understand that eligibility in these circumstances is no longer linked to length of service, and that internal systems do not inadvertently delay access to leave. 

Industrial action 

From 18th February, employees who participate in protected industrial action benefit from significantly enhanced legal protection. Where dismissal is connected to participation in protected industrial action, it will be automatically unfair regardless of how long the action lasts, provided the action begins on or after that date. 

This represents a meaningful shift. Previously, prolonged disruption could alter the legal position over time. That distinction no longer applies, even where disruption becomes sustained and operationally difficult. Employers would be well advised to proceed on the basis that dismissal or disciplinary action linked to participation in protected action is now likely to be challenged. 

Much will turn on judgment. Employers will need to distinguish between conduct that is genuinely separate from the industrial action and conduct that forms part of it, or is closely connected to it. That assessment is often fact-sensitive and rarely straightforward. Decisions taken reactively, particularly at operational level, are more likely to attract scrutiny later. 

February also marks the commencement of new statutory protection against detriment intended to prevent or deter participation in protected industrial action. Although the practical scope of this protection will depend on further regulations, employers should be alert to the fact that actions short of dismissal, such as withdrawing opportunities or imposing unfavourable treatment, may carry legal risk if they are perceived to be linked to industrial action. 

It is important to note that the extended dismissal protection applies only to industrial action that begins on or after 18th February. Action that began earlier continues to be governed by the previous rules. 

Shorter warning, longer disruption 

From 18th February, the procedural framework surrounding industrial action shifts in ways that are likely to be felt most clearly at operational level. 

Trade unions will be required to give less notice before industrial action begins. At the same time, a successful ballot will authorise action for up to 12 months, rather than six. In practical terms, employers may find themselves with less time to prepare for action, while facing the prospect of disruption continuing over a significantly longer period. 

The information employers receive during the ballot process will also change. Unions will be required to provide less detail in ballot notices and on ballot papers themselves. As a result, employers may need to respond to proposed action with more limited information than they are used to, particularly in the early stages. 

In the public sector, the removal of the additional 40 per cent support threshold for certain industrial action ballots is also likely to affect the likelihood of ballots passing, even though the overall turnout requirement remains unchanged. 

From February, unions will no longer be required to appoint a picketing supervisor for lawful picketing. While this does not alter employers’ core obligations, it may change the practical dynamics on the ground where picketing occurs. 

Taken together, these changes mean that industrial action may arise more quickly, with less advance clarity, and remain a live issue for longer. Employers may wish to consider whether existing arrangements support timely escalation, coordinated decision-making and clear communication when notices are received, particularly where responsibility currently sits across multiple teams. 

Trade union engagement and payroll 

February also brings changes to the operation of trade union political fund contributions. New union members will be treated as contributing to political funds unless they actively opt out, reversing the previous default position. 

Where employers operate payroll check-off arrangements, they must ensure that no political fund contributions are deducted if an employee has confirmed in writing that they are not a contributor or that they have opted out, even if that opt-out has not yet taken effect within the union’s systems. 

For most employers, the issue here is administrative rather than strategic. Payroll teams need to be clear about how opt-out confirmations are recorded and applied, and how discrepancies between employer and union records are resolved. Without clear internal processes, relatively minor errors can escalate into complaints or disputes. 

Public sector employers should also be aware that restrictions on check-off arrangements are repealed from 18th February, and requirements to report trade union facility time fall away for periods ending after that date. Existing systems and reporting practices may therefore need adjustment. 

Using February as a point of preparation, not reaction 

The February changes do not represent the full impact of the Employment Rights Act, but they do mark the point at which established assumptions begin to shift. Decisions taken from 18th February onwards will be assessed against this evolving legal backdrop. 

For employers, this is an opportunity to reflect on how decisions are made when pressure is highest, how information flows between managers, HR and payroll, and whether existing processes support consistent and defensible outcomes. Addressing those issues now will place employers in a stronger position not only for the February changes, but for the broader reforms still to come.