Employment Rights Act 2025: what UK hospitality employers must do and when

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and is being switched on in stages. As of 5 October 2026, day-one Statutory Sick Pay, day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave, the Fair Work Agency and a six-month tribunal time limit are already in force. Stronger harassment duties start on 30 October 2026, the new tipping rules and the six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period are due by the end of 2026 and January 2027, and the zero hours rules most relevant to rotas are expected in 2027 after consultation. Every date here comes from the government's implementation timeline, last updated on 25 September 2026, which itself warns that "all future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change".

The timeline at a glance

Check the timeline page before you plan, because it changes. This page was written on 5 October 2026 against the 25 September 2026 version. The Act itself is on legislation.gov.uk.

What is already in force

Statutory Sick Pay from the first day. From 6 April 2026 the waiting period and the lower earnings limit were removed. SSP is now £123.25 a week, or 80% of the worker's normal weekly earnings if that is lower, and workers qualify if they are ill for at least one full working day. In hospitality this matters for part-timers and low earners who used to fall outside SSP. Build it into your payroll and your sickness policy, and put it in the staff handbook.

Day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. The qualifying period of employment was removed on 6 April 2026, so a new starter can ask on their first day. Your rota process needs to handle the notice without a service check.

Other April 2026 changes. The maximum protective award for failing to consult on collective redundancies was doubled, and whistleblowing protections for workers who report sexual harassment were strengthened. The Fair Work Agency, a new enforcement body for workers' rights, started on 7 April 2026.

Six months to bring a tribunal claim. From 1 October 2026 the time limit for most employment tribunal claims is six months instead of three. For breach of contract claims in Scotland the change takes effect on 9 November 2026. Tips complaints already had a 12-month limit under the Tips Act. The longer window means a grievance you thought was closed can come back later, so keep notes of how you handled it.

30 October 2026: harassment, including by customers

Two changes start on 30 October 2026, and both matter to a venue with alcohol and late nights.

• Employers must take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees, replacing "reasonable steps". Ministers can also set out specific steps by regulations at a later date.
• Employers must not permit harassment by third parties. Section 21 of the Act adds to the Equality Act 2010 that an employer permits third-party harassment if it happens in the course of the employee's job and the employer failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. A third party is anyone who is not you or your employee, so customers, suppliers and delivery drivers are included.

In practice, a bar manager who laughs off a guest's comments to a server will have a harder time defending that after 30 October. See the checklist below for what to put in place.

The new tipping rules: by end of 2026

Section 14 amends the Tips Act's written policy rules. You will have to consult your workers (or their union or elected representatives) before producing the first version of your tipping policy, review the policy at least every three years, and consult again as part of every review.

The timing is not fixed. The government's consultation on the revised Code closed on 29 September 2026. It says the new requirements and the updated Code are expected to take effect in late 2026, subject to the Code being approved by Parliament, and that the exact arrangements will be confirmed. Until then, follow the existing Code. Our tronc and Tips Act guide covers the current rules and a policy you can adapt.

1 January 2027: dismissal rights

Three things move in January 2027, according to the timeline:

• Unfair dismissal after six months. The qualifying period falls from two years to six months, and under the commencement regulations it applies where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027, even if the dismissal notice was given earlier. The Act also removes the cap on compensatory awards, by omitting section 124 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
• Fire and rehire protections. Dismissing staff to force through changed contract terms is restricted, so talk to an adviser before changing pay or hours by dismissal.
• A duty to inform workers of their right to join a union.

For a restaurant that churns staff in the first year, the six-month point is the one to plan for. It is no longer safe to treat the first two years as a free period.

2027 and still being settled: guaranteed hours and shift notice

This is the change that will touch your rota most. The Act gives qualifying workers a right to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts and changes to them, and payment for shifts cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice. The government's consultation on the detail ran from 2 June to 25 August 2026, and the measures "have not yet taken effect". The timeline says timings "will be updated after consultation".

What the consultation document proposed, none of it final:

• The government's preferred option for the initial reference period, used to work out the guaranteed hours offer, is 12 weeks.
• The law sets 7 days as the maximum length of "short notice", and the consultation asked whether it should be 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days.
• Employers should not have to make a short notice payment where the worker initiates the change, including a swap between workers or a no-show.

Other 2027 items on the timeline include flexible working, bereavement leave, stronger dismissal protection for pregnant women and new mothers, and regulation of non-disclosure agreements. You do not need to act on these yet. The government's zero hours guidance already says employers should give as much notice as possible and not cancel work at the last minute.

Practical checklist for a restaurant or pub

1. Sick pay. Confirm payroll pays SSP from the first qualifying day, and update the handbook.
2. Harassment, before 30 October. Write a short anti-harassment policy that names customers. Do a simple risk assessment: late service, alcohol, lone closing shifts, regular guests. Give staff a clear route to report, and train managers on what to do (move the guest, refuse service, ban them). Keep a record of incidents and actions.
3. Tipping. Plan how you will ask your team about the tipping policy, such as a staff meeting and a short survey, and keep the answers. Diary a review within three years of the policy's first date.
4. Probation and performance. Hold documented reviews at one, three and five months. From 1 January 2027 a dismissal after six months can be challenged.
5. Contracts. Do not push through contract changes by dismissal without advice.
6. Hours data. Keep clean records of hours worked for every zero-hours and low-hours worker. Guaranteed hours offers will depend on hours worked over a reference period, so the data you need is on your rota and timesheets. See our rota template.
7. Rota habits. Publish rotas early, and log cancellations and who asked for them. That gives you the evidence if short-notice payment rules apply.
8. Watch the dates. The gov.uk page lists changes as they are confirmed, and you can get email updates from it.

A rota system that records actual hours and publishes shifts in advance makes points 6 and 7 easier. TablePort Staff is £49 a month per location ex VAT and includes rotas, clock-in and clock-out and wage forecasting.

This guide is general information, not legal advice, so speak to an employment solicitor or Acas about your specific situation.