Free toolkit: October 2026 UK employment law changes

The October 2026 employment law changes introduce new responsibilities around sexual harassment prevention and trade union rights, as well as extended employment tribunal claim time limits.

Get the practical resources you need in one downloadable toolkit. Inside, you’ll find guides, short expert-led webinars, checklists, and policy and risk assessment templates to help you understand what's changing and start putting compliant processes into practice.

Why October 2026 matters for small and medium businesses

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is introducing significant changes to UK employment law in stages. October is another important point in that timetable, with changes affecting employment tribunal time limits, harassment protections and trade union rights.

Some changes will apply to almost every employer. Others depend on your workforce, sector, or labour supply arrangements. The practical challenge is working out what is relevant, updating the right documents and making sure managers and employees know what to do.

Since the Fair Work Agency (FWA) took force in April 2026, keeping on top of employment legislation has become even more important. You should be able to show how you've communicated employment rights, trained people, recorded decisions and reviewed your approach.

This toolkit gives you a practical starting point. It helps small and growing businesses take proportionate action without getting lost in legal jargon.

What are the October 2026 UK employment law changes and the key dates?

Employment tribunal time limits increase

From 1 October 2026, the standard time limit for most employment tribunal claims increases from three months to six months. Acas early conciliation will continue to apply, and claimants will still need to notify Acas in the usual way.

Stronger sexual harassment protections

From 30 October 2026, employers will need to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers. The strengthened duty includes risks created by third parties such as customers, clients, suppliers and members of the public.

From this date, employers are also liable where a third party harasses a worker and the employer has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

New trade union rights and responsibilities

Several trade union reforms take effect on 30 October 2026. Independent trade unions gain legal rights to request physical or digital access to workers in businesses with more than 20 employees. Employers will have 15 days to respond.

Employers also have a new duty to inform workers of their statutory right to join a trade union. Other changes affect industrial action, trade union representatives, union equality representatives, facilities, paid time off and recognition campaigns.

What's happening with the Acas Code of Practice on grievance and disciplinary procedures?

Acas is consulting on a proposed update to its Code of Practice on grievance and disciplinary procedures. The draft places more emphasis on resolving workplace concerns early and informally, with clearer expectations around mediation, reasonable adjustments, suspension, manager training and explaining what informal steps were taken before a matter moves into a formal process.

The consultation closes on 23 September 2026. The draft Code is not currently in force, and no implementation date has been confirmed, so it does not automatically require businesses to change their procedures in October. You should continue to follow the current Code unless and until a revised version takes effect.

You can still use the consultation as a prompt to review your grievance procedures, disciplinary procedures and manager training. Keep monitoring Acas guidance and the Breathe Employment Law Hub for any updates.

What employment law changes have already taken effect in 2026?

Several 2026 updates are already in force, including:

• Day-one statutory sick pay SSP with the lower earnings limit removed.

• April’s national minimum wage increases.

• Day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.

• Bereaved partner’s paternity leave for up to 52 weeks.

• The maximum protective award for failure to consult on collective redunancy has increased to 180 days' pay.

• Enhanced protections for whistleblowers reporting sexual harassment.

• Employers must keep holiday records for at least 6 years.

Together, these changes are a useful prompt to review the payroll, leave and HR processes you use to support employees.

You can read more detail on our Employment Law Hub.

What changes are happening in 2027?

From 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal rights are changing. The qualifying period, previously two years, becomes six months, meaning more employees may be able to claim unfair dismissal. Compensation for unfair dismissal will also no longer have a cap.

Fire and rehire will be automatically unfair in most cases from 1 January 2027 too.

2027 also brings changes to flexible working and zero hour contracts, as well as gender pay gap, ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. New rules will mean that refusals for flexible working requests must be reasonable, and employers must explain their reasons. And employers with more than 250 workers must start to publish equality action plans and menopause action plans.

Keep checking our Employment Law Hub for further guidance.