Fair Work Agency, Trade Unions & Employer Action Plans: More changes to employee rights

The Employment Rights Act 2025 started to come into effect in February, and will continue to be implemented across 2026 and 2027. The following rights and guidelines are already in effect, which means businesses need to ensure that they are aware of the new rights, and any policies and procedures that need to be changed as a result.

This came into effect on 7th April 2026, and has centralised a number of different employment rights that were previously managed by different enforcement services. At present, the Fair Work Agency includes National Minimum Wage, agency worker protections (an agency worker is anyone who has a contract with an agency, but works temporarily for a hirer), and gangmaster licensing (the licence required to supply temporary employees to agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging).

The government states that the Fair Work Agency will gradually encompass further employee rights, such as Holiday Pay. For businesses, the centralisation of these enforcements means that the way that they are inspected and investigated for breaches and labour exploitation might change. Additionally, for guidance on National Minimum Wage, agency worker protections and gangmaster licensing, you can use a single email (contact@fairworkagency.gov.uk). 

There are no further requirements for businesses, but we’d recommend ensuring that you’re compliant with all the existing employee rights.

There have been a number of changes for Trade Unions, many of which it is important for employers to be aware of. The period of time that Unions have to inform employers of upcoming strike action has been reduced, from 14 days to 10 days. Ballots approving industrial action have been increased from a 6 month mandate, to a 12 month mandate. The 12-week cap has been removed, which means that employees are protected from unfair dismissal for taking part in strikes, regardless of how long the strike lasts for.

Employers should also be aware that Unions are no longer required to appoint a picket supervisor for any strike action that involves a picket line. They are also not required to reimburse employers for check-off administrations in the public sector, and the amount of information that they are required to provide regarding industrial action and ballots is less.

Businesses should review their policies, and any written information about strikes, industrial action and Trade Unions, to ensure that it aligns with these changes.

For businesses who employ 250 or more people, the government has introduced the opportunity to create and publish an action plan, to accompany their gender pay gap document. It is expected for these to become mandatory sometime in Spring 2027; but right now these action plans are voluntary. The intention behind this change is to encourage employers to use the data in their gender pay gap report to identify how more opportunities can be given to marginalised gender identities. 

There is a specific note in the Employment Rights Act 2025 which outlines that employers should be supporting employees who are experiencing menopause. According to the government website, ‘Employers must also choose at least one action that supports employees experiencing menopause. This includes both perimenopause and postmenopause.’ The website also refers to endometriosis, fibroids and PMOS, and encourages employers to consider how these health conditions impact their employees.