Government must prep what it preaches on the Employment Rights Act

Responding to the government confirming in a Parliamentary written answer yesterday that it will stick to the Implementation Roadmap timelines for the Employment Rights Act, Shazia Ejaz, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) Director of Campaigns, said:

“Confirmation that the timetable for implementation of the Employment Rights Act won’t shift despite later than anticipated consultation on secondary legislation will worry businesses.  Employers still lack the clarity they need to plan for generational changes in the way we work when some key details remain unresolved and subject to secondary legislation. Delays to the consultation process are explained by the extended ‘ping pong’ of the Bill between the House of Lords and the Commons partly, but those delays must not shorten the time businesses have to prepare for the changes ahead. Pushing these measures onto the statute book without giving employers proper preparation time could lead to less job creation and ultimately to slower growth.”

Notes to editors

1.     Employment Rights Act 2025, Question for Department for Business and Trade, 21 January 2026.

2.     UK Small Business Statistics – Business Population Estimates. Composition of the 2025 business population. There were estimated to be 5.7 million UK private sector businesses. 1.4 million (25%) businesses had employees and 4.3 million (75%) did not employ anyone aside from the owners.

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