Trade unions: Simplifying the process for trade union recognition.

Day 1 rights:

• Paternity and parental leave to become ‘day 1’ rights.
• Statutory sick pay to be payable from the first day of sickness.

Protection from harassment: Sexual harassment to be added to the list of qualifying disclosures for whistleblowing complaints.

Collective redundancies: Maximum protective award to be doubled to 180 days’ pay.

Annual leave: Employers to have a duty to keep records relating to annual leave.

Fair Work Agency (FWA): FWA established, with full operation expected from 2027 at the earliest.

Trade unions: Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots.

Employment tribunal time limits: Time limit for making an employment tribunal claim to increase from three months to six months.

Trade unions: A number of measures aimed at strengthening trade union rights, including:

• a duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union;
• strengthening trade unions’ rights of access to the workplace;
• reforms relating to access and unfair practices during the trade union recognition and derecognition process;
• new rights and protections for trade union representatives; and
• protection for workers from detriment where they take industrial action.

Protection from harassment:

• Employers are required to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of employees.
• Employees are protected from harassment by third parties.
• Regulations may be introduced at a later date setting out evidence based steps that employers must take to prevent sexual harassment.

Unfair dismissal rights:

Both for dismissals from 1 January 2027:

• Six month qualifying period for unfair dismissal rights.
• Removal of cap on unfair dismissal compensation.

Fire and rehire: Dismissal of an employee for their failure to agree to a ‘restricted variation’ to their contract of employment to become automatically unfair, save for in excepted circumstances.

Collective redundancies: Changes to the thresholds that trigger collective consultation requirements.

Zero hours and low hours contracts: Reforms aimed at providing workers with greater security and predictability in relation to their working hours and earnings.

Family-friendly rights and leave protections:

• Introduction of bereavement leave, including in cases of pregnancy loss.
• Changes to the process for making and determining flexible working requests.
• Enhanced protection against dismissal for pregnant employees and new mothers.
• Mandatory action plans to promote gender equality and support employees experiencing menopause.

Trade unions:

• Extension of the scope of protections against blacklisting.
• Changes to the industrial relations framework.
• Introduction of electronic and workplace balloting for trade union recognition and derecognition.

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs):

• NDA provisions will be void where they seek to prevent workers from speaking out about harassment or discrimination, or about the employer’s response to such allegations.