The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) Is Now Law – What People Managers Need to Know

You may have seen headlines this week about the Employment Rights Bill becoming law as of 18 December 2025, it is now the Employment Rights Act 2025 although most changes won’t take effect immediately, the direction of travel is clear.

For people managers, this matters.

The Act strengthens employee protections and raises expectations around fairness, consistency, and good people management. Much of it will be phased in over 2026 and 2027, but now is the time to get organised.

What’s changing?

Some of the key reforms include:

• A reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal to six months
• Removal of the cap on unfair dismissal compensation
• Stronger rights around predictable hours, sick pay, flexible working and harassment
• Restrictions on fire and rehire practices
• Changes to consultation and trade union access

Details will continue to emerge, but one thing is already clear…..how managers handle people issues will matter more than ever.

What does this mean in practice?

It’s no longer enough to rely on goodwill or informal approaches. Managers will need to:

• Address performance and conduct issues earlier
• Be clear and consistent in conversations
• Document decisions properly
• Apply policies fairly in real situations

This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being prepared.

Why people skills are now essential

Most managers learn on the job. Policies and training courses rarely prepare you for real conversations, resistance, and emotions, not to mention the huge scope for grey areas.

As employment rights strengthen, handling people situations well becomes an even more important part of your role, not something you deal with when there’s time. There will never be enough time.

Reality check - What can you do now?

• Refresh your core people management skills
• Review how you currently handle performance, conduct and absence
• Stay informed via trusted sources like Acas https://www.acas.org.uk/or the CIPD https://www.cipd.org/uk/
• Practise having clear and fair conversations early
  The ERA 2025 isn’t just a legal update. It’s a reminder that supportive, robust and effective people management is central to sustainable work, healthy teams and your own wellbeing as a manager. The foundations of our Bounceback Manager initiative.