Getting ready for employment law changes in October 2026

The next wave of reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) are due to take effect in October 2026.  These changes will have significant implications for employers across a range of areas, including tribunal claims, harassment, and trade union rights.

In this article, we examine the key changes coming into force next month, their practical impact on employers, and the steps organisations should be taking to get ready.

For further details on how the ERA changes affect you, use our ERA tracker, which you can view by timeline or topic: Employment Rights Act – Walker Morris.

Employment tribunal limitation periods extended

What is changing?

From 1 October 2026, the time limit to bring an employment tribunal claim will be extended from three to six months.

What is the practical impact of the change?

Whilst this change may provide greater opportunity for employers to resolve disputes before litigation is commenced, it will also create a longer period of uncertainty as to whether a claim will be brought. Claims are likely to take even longer to reach a hearing, particularly given the existing tribunal backlog (impacted in part by the increased use of AI by claimants).

What steps should employers take to prepare?

It will be more important than ever for employers to ensure that processes are in place for preserving documents. Greater consideration should also be given to taking early statements from witnesses whilst memories are fresh and in case witnesses leave (and negotiating reasonable assistance agreements for key witnesses who do leave).

Separately, employers will also want to consider how to best manage the growing use of AI in workplace disputes. For more information on this, see our article: The impact of AI on employee disputes and strategies for management – Walker Morris

Duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and a new obligation in relation to third-party harassment

What is changing?

Two important changes are taking effect regarding harassment from 30 October 2026.

Firstly, the existing duty on employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees will be extended to a duty to take ‘all reasonable steps’.

Secondly, a new obligation on employers regarding harassment of their employees by third parties will be introduced. Importantly, this applies to all protected characteristics. Employers must not permit third-party harassment of their employees and will have done so if a third party harasses an employee in the course of their employment and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that. A breach of the duty will enable an employee to bring a standalone claim.

What is the practical impact of the change?

A degree of uncertainty remains. The government does not intend to implement any regulations setting out what will amount to reasonable steps in relation to sexual harassment until 2027, after the changes come into force. The EHRC is also still to publish updated guidance to reflect the changes to the law. Nevertheless, these changes will raise the compliance bar significantly for employers, and the new third-party harassment provisions will pose a particular challenge for employers whose staff frequently come into contact with third parties.

 What steps should employers take to prepare?

Carrying out comprehensive risk assessments on a regular basis will be critical in helping to inform what steps to take to meet the new duties.  Practical steps which employers should consider include:

• reviewing and updating policies
• putting in place a regular and tailored anti-harassment training programme
• ensuring there are clear and accessible reporting channels
• monitoring policy compliance and ensuring effective action is taken in relation to complaints of harassment
• reviewing commercial terms and arrangements with third parties and embedding anti-harassment provisions
• displaying clear signage which sets out that harassment will not be tolerated and how concerns can be reported

Documented evidence will be key so that employers can show they have assessed the risks, taken the necessary preventative action and kept this under regular review.

Trade union rights

Following a raft of trade union related changes earlier this year, further changes are due to come into effect on 30 October 2026.

New trade union right of access to the workplace

Perhaps the most significant change will be the new trade union right of access to the workplace, both physically and digitally, to engage with workers for the purposes of representation, support, recruitment, organisation and facilitating collective bargaining (but not to organise industrial action). The new access regime represents a significant shift for UK industrial relations. It may lead to greater trade union visibility in the workplace, and in turn greater union membership and presence, and more recognition requests.  Employers should be proactively preparing for this change and the possibility of a request. For more information and steps employers should take to get ready, see our article: The new trade union right to access workplaces: how employers can get ready .

Other trade union changes

A related change is a new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, at the same time as a ‘section 1 statement’ and at other prescribed times. Further regulations are still awaited regarding the details around the duty, including the form and content of the statement and the way in which it must be given. Employers will need to monitor developments here and be ready to comply when the duty comes into force.

Other trade union changes include the introduction of better rights and protections for trade union representatives, protection against detriment for taking industrial action, and reforms to access and unfair practices during the trade union recognition process.

Other changes

A number of other changes are expected under the ERA in October 2026, including in relation to the reintroduction of the ‘two-tier’ code in public sector procurement and Social Care Negotiating Bodies.

Further ahead – but important to prepare for now

Many more changes are expected under the ERA over the next 12 months and beyond.

Looking ahead to the most immediate ones, a new requirement for workforce consultation on tipping is expected by the end of the year. January 2027 will also bring new restrictions on so-called ‘fire and rehire’ practices, together with very significant changes to unfair dismissal law, namely:

• the reduction of the qualifying period from two years to six months
• removal of the cap on the compensatory award

These reforms to unfair dismissal law are expected to increase the volume and value of unfair dismissal claims. More complex claims involving high earnings and valuable benefits are likely, along with arguments around career loss. Removal of the cap will also impact settlement negotiations and the approach to senior exits. Employers should be taking steps to prepare now, which will include:

• having robust recruitment practices in place
• effective use of probationary periods/performance management processes for new hires
• communicating with managers about the changes, to ensure the importance of the above is understood, and addressing people management skills gaps through training
• taking care to apply notice provisions correctly, including statutory minimum notice periods, to avoid inadvertent unfair dismissal exposure
• taking particular care when dealing with high-value or high-risk dismissals

Please get in touch if you would like advice on the impact of the changes, including in relation to senior exits and steps that can be taken now to seek to mitigate against these.

Immigration and pre-employment checking compliance

A major expansion of right-to-work compliance beyond direct employees will take effect from 1 October 2026. The changes are significant and will affect businesses that engage contractors, casual workers, agency workers, outsourced labour, platform workers, and other non-traditional workforces, regardless of whether they consider themselves to be the individual’s employer. See our article on the changes for further information: Major expansion of right to work compliance beyond direct employees from 1 October 2026 – Walker Morris

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact Lucy Gordon, Charlotte Smith, Lorna Hopps, Andrew Rayment, Shabana Muneer, or any member of the employment team.