Morning, Friday, 17th April 2026
Online
This conference will focus on next steps for implementation of key measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss early insights and practical issues for delivering the Government’s phased programme for commencement. Delegates will assess priorities for areas that will be the subject of consultation, guidance and secondary legislation as implementation is taken forward. Sessions will also consider the interaction with other strands of the Plan to Make Work Pay, including proposals set out for the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and establishment of the Fair Work Agency.
First phase of implementation
Looking at strategies for integrating employment reforms into organisational practice, delegates will examine provisions affecting pay, conditions and employment protections, including new duties relating to employers and the workplace, and the initial experience and any issues that have arisen following the first phase of implementation of day-one rights.
Discussion will consider implications for workforce planning, recruitment and HR - from contract design and record-keeping to managing flexibility, absence, performance and grievance processes - and how organisations of different sizes and in varying sectors are approaching support and compliance.
Further sessions will consider practicalities, approaches to effective practice and next steps for employment relations and provision of sustainable, inclusive working conditions, including trade union powers and processes around recognition, voting thresholds and notice periods for industrial action. The agenda will also discuss parental and pregnancy-related protections, equality action plans and menopause-related wellbeing, and options for ensuring that implementation works across different cohorts of the workforce, including younger workers and those in insecure or lower-paid roles.
Overview of areas for discussion
- policy: next steps for implementation of the Employment Rights Act - sequencing within the phased implementation roadmap - alignment with the Plan to Make Work Pay
- early implementation insights: practical issues emerging from initial commencement - employer and worker experience - implications for guidance and secondary legislation
- rights from day-one: employer readiness for new entitlements - implications for recruitment, probation and workforce planning - compliance management and across sectors and organisational sizes
- employer responsibilities: adapting HR systems and contracts - record-keeping, flexibility and absence management - resourcing and capability implications for employers
- Fair Work Agency: role, remit, powers and operational priorities - coordination with existing regulators and enforcement bodies - approaches to employer support and compliance
- trade union framework: changes to recognition and balloting processes - implications for industrial relations practice - managing notice periods and thresholds in practice
- inclusive working conditions: equality action plans and workforce inclusion strategies - addressing differential impacts across workforce cohorts - youth employment and insecure work
- workplace protections: strengthened whistleblowing arrangements - sexual harassment protections, including third-party duties - handling reporting, investigation and prevention
- future reform: preparedness for phases two and three - reform to zero and low-hour roles, dismissal and redundancy changes - managing transition and cumulative impact
