The Law

The Employment Rights Bill gained royal assent on the 18 December 2025, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025. The UK Government's Implementing the Employment Rights Bill Roadmap sets out the schedule for the implementation of all of the employment law changes. see below for a summary of the changes and key dates in 2026/2027. 

No date has been confirmed yet, but the following changes will be coming in shortly after royal assent: 

• simplification of industrial action notices and industrial action ballot notices 
• introduction of dismissal protections for taking industrial action. 

From April 2026: 

• All employees, regardless of their earnings level, will be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from their first day of absence rather than the fourth day  
• Employees will be entitled to paternity leave and pay and parental leave from day one of employment  
• The maximum compensation for failure to consult employees during a large redundancy exercise will double to 180 days’ pay 
• Whistleblowing protections for protected disclosures regarding sexual harassment will be introduced 
• Simplification of trade union recognition process 
• Electronic and workplace balloting reforms. 

To prepare for this key actions voluntary sector employers should have taken include: 

• Update parental and paternity leave policies to include the new day one right to parental leave (unpaid) and paternity leave (paid)   
• Review sickness absence policies and procedures, and update to include the new entitlement to SSP from the first day of sickness absence.  SSP bills are likely to increase as more employees will be entitled to SSP, take steps to ensure your absence management policies are effective.   

From October 2026: 

• restrictions on the use of fire and re-hire, unless in very limited circumstances 
• requirement to inform workers of their right to join a trade union 
• strengthening of trade unions' right of access 
• introduction of new rights and protections for trade union representatives 
• extension of the protections against detriments for taking industrial action 
• extension of employment tribunal time limits from three months to six months 
• requirement for employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees 
• obligation for employers not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties 

Ahead of October 2026, key actions for voluntary sector employers include: 

• Review measures that are in place to prevent sexual harassment so that “all reasonable” steps can be identified and implemented.  See the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guide for employers: preventing sexual harassment for more information on your duties as an employer and the steps you can take. 
• Ensure you are informing your employees and new starters of their right to join a trade union. 

From January 2027: 

• Qualifying service for unfair dismissal will be reduced from two years to six months 
• Removal of compensation caps for unfair dismissal. 

Further changes will be implemented from April 2027 including new day-one right to bereavement leave. This will allow employees to take at least one week of bereavement leave. Additionally, from 2027, there will be a new right of two weeks statutory bereavement leave introduced for parents who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks  

And don’t forget: increased duties on employers around actively preventing sexual harassment came into play at the end of 2024. Voluntary sector organisations employing staff need to take steps now to meet these responsibilities if they have not done so already. 

A new type of statutory leave and pay was introduced in April 2025 - Neonatal Leave and Pay. 

The Carer’s Leave Act came into effect on 6 April 2024 and entitles employees to one week (5 days) of unpaid carer’s leave per year.

A range of regulatory changes came into effect in 2025 relating to charity law: 

• From June 2025, charities are required to provide trustee details to OSCR 
• A register of mergers has been publicly available since June 2025 
• Automatic disqualification of trustees and senior staff has been in place since August 2025. 

Further changes came into effect early in 2026: 

• Trustees names will be published, unless they have successfully applied for an exemption 
• All charity accounts will be published. 

These changes impact on the information that charities provide to OSCR, and charities will also need to be up to date on changes to disqualification criteria for trustees.  

In addition, the audit threshold for charities has been increased to £1million. Organisations with an income of less than £1million no longer need a full audit but do require Independent Examination. 

The Scottish Government had committed to undertake a wider review of charity regulation, including addressing concerns around the reorganisation of statutory charities, and improving the process of incorporation to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). The Scottish Government has also consulted on making amendments to the Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO) dissolution regulations. Due to lack of space in the legislative programme, the review has been paused until after the 2026 Holyrood election. 

Increased fees: As of 1st February 2026, the following fees will apply to those wishing to register as a Community Interest Company: 

• Incorporation online - £115 (currently £65) 
• Incorporation by paper - £139 (currently £86) 

There are other increases to fees for registered companies and more details are available online.  

• Changes to Accounts: All company accounts must be filed using commercial software from 1 April 2027. Registered companies should prepare to comply with these changes and will need to find a suitable software product (if needed) before web-based and paper filing options are no longer available.

some changes which will come in 2026

• Cookie rules: allows you to set some types of cookies without having to get consent, such as those you might use to collect information for statistical purposes and improve the functionality of your website.  
• ‘Soft opt in’ for charities: provisions in the DUAA allow UK charities to send marketing emails and texts to people who have shown interest in their work without needing explicit consent. This includes being able to send marketing material for fundraising or to promote their charitable work to people who have previously expressed an interest in their charitable purposes. 
• Complaints by data subjects:  introduces a statutory requirement for data controllers to put in place complaints-handling processes and to respond to complaints lodged with them by data subjects.

Martyn’s Law introduces new duties intended to improve public safety at venues and events. The Act will apply to a wide range of premises, including some run or used by voluntary organisations, such as community centres, arts venues, village halls, festival sites, sports facilities and other publicly accessible spaces. 

There is an implementation period of at least 24 months before the act comes into force. Those responsible for premises and events need to plan and prepare accordingly. 

The standard tier applies to premises that can reasonably expect between 200 to 799 individuals to be present. 

The enhanced tier applies to premises that expect 800 or more individuals to be present. 

There are special considerations for premises used for early years or primary, secondary or further education – they remain in the standard tier even if 800 or more individuals are expected to be present. 

This will mean having in place, as far as is reasonably practicable, appropriate public protection measures to reduce vulnerability to acts of terrorism and the risk of physical harm if an act of terrorism was to occur and to notify the regulator, the Security Industry Authority (SIA), that they are responsible for their premises.