The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/323) were made on 16 March 2026. The instrument both corrects errors in the earlier Commencement No. 1 SI (S.I. 2026/3 (C.2)) and sets the next tranche of commencement dates, with targeted transitional and saving provisions to manage ongoing cases.
From 1 April 2026, section 85 of the 2025 Act takes effect, removing the Certification Officer’s power to impose an annual levy on trade unions and employers’ associations. This reverses a 2022 funding change and returns the office to Exchequer funding. Practically, unions cease to be liable for the levy from this date. (legislation.gov.uk)
On 6 April 2026, new whistleblowing protection is switched on for disclosures about sexual harassment, alongside limits on confidentiality clauses. Section 23 confirms that disclosures relating to sexual harassment qualify for protection if the usual public‑interest and other statutory tests are met; section 24 voids non‑disclosure provisions purporting to prevent workers from alleging or disclosing harassment or discrimination. Employers should update whistleblowing, settlement and confidentiality templates ahead of April. (blakemorgan.co.uk)
The same date also activates section 27 on dismissal following a period of statutory family leave, section 28 in part (enabling regulations on dismissal for refusing a contract variation-commonly framed as fire‑and‑rehire), and section 30, which extends the protected period relevant to collective redundancy remedies. The Government has confirmed the maximum protective award will double to 180 days for failures to collectively consult, applying only to dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Section 33 introduces equality action plans and section 35 creates a duty to keep adequate records demonstrating compliance with annual leave obligations. While detailed reporting duties will be phased, Government guidance signals large employers will be encouraged to publish voluntary action plans from April 2026 ahead of mandatory requirements expected later. HR and legal teams should prepare draft plans and ensure leave‑record systems can evidence compliance. (gov.uk)
The instrument also commences, on 6 April 2026, the suite of provisions (sections 39 to 55) enabling a Social Care Negotiating Body and related governance, membership and remit. In parallel, section 60 and specified paragraphs of Schedule 6 begin to reform statutory trade union recognition under Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Key changes include removing the requirement to show at application stage that a majority of workers would likely favour recognition, and moving recognition ballots to a simple‑majority‑of‑votes‑cast test, with the former 40 per cent of the bargaining unit threshold removed. (dacbeachcroft.com)
Targeted savings apply. Where a statutory recognition application, ballot notification or derecognition process was already in train before 6 April 2026, the pre‑April legal tests continue to apply. In practice, that protects existing CAC cases from mid‑process rule changes while allowing new applications to proceed under the simplified thresholds from 6 April.
Part 5 of the Act-establishing the UK’s new single enforcement architecture-starts on 7 April 2026 for the specified labour market statutes. The Secretary of State (and, by delegation, the Fair Work Agency once operational) gains powers to issue notices of underpayment, seek Labour Market Enforcement (LME) undertakings and orders, obtain information, and enter premises subject to warrant and safeguards. Employers should treat this as the point at which non‑compliance with holiday pay, SSP and other rights becomes materially more enforceable. (acas.org.uk)
To bridge definitions until section 6(1) of the 2025 Act is fully commenced, the Regulations set interim readings of “worker” and “employer” for Part 5, ensuring coverage of zero‑hours arrangements. This avoids gaps in enforcement scope while the status reforms are phased.
A saving provision maintains continuity for complaints and misconduct processes during the handover from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to the new enforcement regime. Existing GLAA complaints and oversight arrangements continue, with terminology modified so that references align to enforcement officers appointed under section 90 ERA 2025 and to the Secretary of State, until new Police Reform Act 2002 regulations come into force. Parliamentary scrutiny on related investigatory powers has proceeded in parallel to avoid any enforcement gap. (hansard.parliament.uk)
Finally, the instrument corrects cross‑references in the Commencement No. 1 Regulations to ensure the right regulation‑making powers are live for 6 April, including the power to make regulations under section 104K(7)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in connection with dismissal for refusing certain contract variations.
What this means in practice is a compressed April window for compliance activity. By early April, employers should have: refreshed settlement and confidentiality language; prepared equality action plans for voluntary publication; validated holiday‑pay record‑keeping; reviewed redundancy consultation playbooks against the higher protective‑award exposure; and re‑assessed trade union recognition risk under the simplified ballot threshold. From 7 April, they should also assume a materially stronger enforcement environment under Part 5, with LME undertakings and orders, civil penalties and recovery tools available to the authorities. (gov.uk)