Next big wave of employment rights reforms - coming October

October will see a set of reforms come in under the Employment Rights Act, including:

Trade union rights

• New duty to inform workers of their right to join a union.
• Expanded union workplace access rights.
• New facilities and time-off rights for union representatives. 

Harassment

• Employers become liable for third-party harassment (e.g. by customers or clients) unless they have taken all reasonable steps to prevent it.
• The duty to prevent sexual harassment is strengthened from "reasonable steps" to "all reasonable steps". 

Employment tribunals

• Time limits for most tribunal claims increase from 3 months to 6 months. 

We’ll include reminders over the next few months – and then start flagging what will change in January 2027 too.

BOSS members can view our partner BPIF's Employment Rights Act 2025 – At A Glance Summary