Morning, Friday, 17th April 2026
Online
This conference will focus on next steps in the implementation of key measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025, and policy priorities moving forward.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss early insights and initial challenges experienced as the Government’s phased roadmap for commencement is rolled out. We expect discussion to focus on strategic and practical steps for integrating employment reform into organisational guidance, practice and enforcement.
Attendees will also consider key areas that are still subject to consultation, as well as the way forward for secondary legislation as implementation continues. These include provisions affecting pay, conditions and employment protections, and new duties relating to employers.
Further sessions examine the interaction of measures in the Act 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
Delegates will assess initial insights from the first phase of implementation of day-one rights, including reform to Statutory Sick Pay and removal of the lower earnings limit, and changes to paternity and parental leave entitlements, along with the introduction of sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure under whistleblowing law. As well as the impact on those entering the workforce, the agenda will explore operational, financial and regulatory implications for employers, including anticipated impact on investment strategy.
Further discussion will consider priorities for workforce planning, recruitment and HR - from contract design and record-keeping to managing flexibility, absence, performance and grievance processes. Approaches to achieving compliance will be assessed - for organisations of different sizes and in varying sectors - as well as access to the support that they may need.
Preparing for second phase measures - unfair dismissal, gig economy & harassment protections
Sessions will also look ahead to adoption and compliance for implementation in forthcoming roadmap stages taking effect in 2026 and 2027.
Implications of key reforms will be discussed, including in the areas of fire and rehire, enhanced protections against unfair dismissal, and reform to zero-hour contracts, alongside the rights to guaranteed working hours and to compensation for cancelled shifts. Delegates will assess issues around employer costs, recruitment patterns and access to agency and part-time work - particularly for retail, hospitality and other affected sectors.
With the introduction of employer liability for third party harassment and duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, sessions will assess effective practice and preventative approaches for reducing risks for employees, including managerial and senior leadership responsibilities, bystander training, employment tribunal capacity and workplace culture.
Provisions on maternity, gender equality, flexible working & retention across workforce groups
There will be further discussion around protections for pregnancy and maternity, as well as the introduction of mandatory gender pay gap reporting and Menopause Action Plans, and anticipated amendments to the right to request flexible working, in the context of priorities for job quality, productivity, and employee wellbeing. How measures can best support employees with health issues, new mothers, or those returning from a period of absence will be assessed, including further approaches for employers in reducing barriers and career impact.
Delegates will examine approaches to shifting legal requirements and effective practice, with consideration of strategies for addressing workforce retention and organisation, alongside effective delivery of new measures across varying sectors and workforce groups, including younger workers and those in insecure or lower-paid roles.
Fair Work Agency powers & priorities
The conference will also be an opportunity to discuss operational priorities for the Fair Work Agency, including role, remit and powers in the context of approaches to regulation and enforcement. The rollout of workplace inspection powers will also be examined, alongside implications and practical application of a civil penalty regime and cost recovery powers in cases of non-compliance. Coordination with existing regulators and approaches to supporting employers to meet statutory duties will also be considered.
Trade union & employment relations reform
Further sessions consider next steps for employment relations and provision of sustainable, inclusive working conditions. Delegates will examine reform to trade union powers, processes and workforce participation under the Act, including removal of minimum service level rules for strikes, new dismissal protections for industrial action, changes to voting procedures, and reform to industrial action and ballot notices.
There will be assessment of updated employer duties with regard to trade union right of access to the workplace and informing workers of their right to join a union, including new Central Arbitration Committee powers to impose fines, and next steps, with the Department for Business and Trade consulting on a Code of Practice on the right of access.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Care Quality Commission; Department for Business and Trade; Department of Health and Social Care; Department for Education; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Health and Safety Executive; National Crime Agency; Home Office; and the Welsh Government.
