May 2026
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This conference focused on next steps in the implementation of key measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025, and policy priorities moving forward.
It brought stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss early insights and initial challenges experienced as the Government’s phased roadmap for commencement is rolled out. We expected discussion to focus on strategic and practical steps for integrating employment reform into organisational guidance, practice and enforcement.
Attendees also considered key areas that are still subject to consultation, as well as the way forward for secondary legislation as implementation continues. These included provisions affecting pay, conditions and employment protections, and new duties relating to employers.
Further sessions examined the interaction of measures in the Act with other strands of the Plan to Make Work Pay, including establishment of the Fair Work Agency.
First phase of implementation
Delegates assessed 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 explored operational, financial and regulatory implications for employers, including anticipated impact on investment strategy.
Further discussion considered 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 were 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 also looked ahead to adoption and compliance for implementation in forthcoming roadmap stages taking effect in 2026 and 2027.
Implications of key reforms were discussed, including in the areas of fire and rehire, enhanced protections against unfair dismissal, and reform to zero-hour contracts, alongside rights to guaranteed working hours and to compensation for cancelled shifts. Delegates assessed issues around employer costs, recruitment patterns and access to agency and part-time work - particularly for retail, hospitality and other affected sectors.
We expected further discussion on reform to collective redundancy obligations and ongoing consultation around the level and methods by which the new organisation-wide threshold might be set, with consideration on new operational and monitoring duties for employers, employer-employee transparency during the collective redundancy process, and the extent of implications for small and medium sized enterprises.
With the introduction of employer liability for third party harassment and duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, sessions assessed 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 was further discussion around protections for pregnancy and maternity, alongside the introduction of mandatory gender pay gap reporting and workplace action plans to reduce the gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause, including consideration of initial employer guidance published by the Office for Equality and Opportunity. Delegates examined concerns around practical implementation of these new duties, as well as 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 parents, or those returning from a period of absence was assessed, including further approaches for employers in reducing barriers and career impact.
Delegates examined 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 was also 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 was also 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 was also considered.
Trade union & employment relations reform
Further sessions considered next steps for employment relations and provision of sustainable, inclusive working conditions. Delegates examined reform to trade union powers, processes and workforce participation, including removal of minimum service level rules for strikes, changes to voting procedures, industrial action and ballot notices, and new dismissal protections for industrial action, looking ahead to considerations for secondary legislation detailing prohibited detriments.
There was 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.
As well as key stakeholders those attending included officials from the Department for Business and Trade; Department of Health and Social Care; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Department for Education; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Ministry of Justice; HM Revenue and Customs; Care Quality Commission; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Health and Safety Executive; National Crime Agency; Home Office; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
