Bitesize Employment Rights Act

Bitesize ERA - formerly Bitesize ERB - is our ongoing series that looks at different aspects of the Employment Rights Acts 2025 (ERA 2025). Following the Bill's Royal Assent in December 2025, the ERA 2025 introduces significant reforms for employers. Each episode is under 15 minutes, and provides you with insights on key reforms in the ERA 2025, anticipated timescales, and practical guidance on the changes to help your business prepare.

Episode 5 - Royal assent and a big change for unfair dismissal

February 2026

Following the Employment Rights Bill receiving Royal Assent in December 2025 and becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), our Bitesize ERB video series has now been rebranded as Bitesize ERA.

In this episode, TLT employment partners Amy Stokes and Charlie Rae discuss the upcoming ERA 2025 reforms which take effect from 18 February 2026 with further reforms coming into force in April 2026.

They discuss:

changes to unfair dismissal, including the removal of the compensation cap and six-month qualifying period;

recent and upcoming trade union reforms;

changes to paternity and parental leave; and

further reforms and government consultations on the horizon, including statutory sick pay, whistleblowing and an increase to the protective award.

Episode 4 - Trade Unions: The first wave of reforms under the Employment Rights Bill

November 2025

In this episode, TLT employment partners Amy Stokes and Charlie Rae discuss some of the first trade union law reforms due to take effect once the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) becomes law, including:.

the repeal of minimum service levels for strikes in key public services;

simplified ballot papers and notices;

reduced notice period for industrial action;

strengthened protection against dismissal for employees participating in lawful industrial action;

the power for the government to update blacklisting laws ; and

clarification on the scope of protection for workers ‘ordinarily’ working outside Great Britain. Charlie and Amy also cover two recent government consultations closing on 18 December 2025: one on a proposed new duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a union, and another on the proposed workplace access rights for unions.

They discuss practical considerations for employers, whether currently unionised or not, including how to prepare for revised procedures and the importance of reviewing industrial relations strategies.

Please note that since the recording of this episode, the ERB has been sent back to the House of Commons by the House of Lords, and the Parliamentary “ping-pong” continues.

Episode 3 - Further amendments to the Employment Rights Bill

August 2025

As the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) continues to progress through the House of Lords, the government has set out its anticipated timeline for reform, as well as introducing some additional proposed changes to the law.

In our third episode of Bitesize ERB, Partners, Charlie Rae, and Amy Stokes, discuss:

key points to note from the government’s timeline for employment law reform; and
additional changes to the ERB recently proposed by the government, including a ban on NDAs and tweaks to its previous proposals on fire & rehire and for those on zero hours contracts.

Episode 2 – Unfair dismissals and ‘fire and rehire’ practices

June 2025

In the second episode this series, Partners, Charlie Rae, and Amy Stokes, review two of the most significant reforms proposed under the Employment Rights Bill; changes to unfair dismissal and ‘fire and rehire’.

Across two short parts, they explore what’s changing, what it means in practice, and how employers can prepare. Topics include:

Part 1 – Unfair dismissals

The removal of the two-year qualifying period and what it means for employers.
The impact on employees who have not yet started work.
What the new ‘initial period’ of employment and ‘light touch’ dismissal procedure will look like and the legal implications.
How the proposed changes will interact with contractual probationary periods.
When these changes are likely to take effect and how they might impact claims in the employment tribunal.

Part 2 – ‘Fire and rehire’

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• How the ERB proposes to alter the practice of “firing and rehiring”.
• The circumstances in which it will be regarded as automatically unfair on an employer seeking to change employees’ terms.
• The proposed exception to automatic unfair dismissal where the employer is in ‘financial difficulty’.
• How the proposed changes will interact with the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement.
• The penalties of getting it wrong and the proposed increase of the protective award.