Employers have various “new” or extended employee rights to consider which come into effect on 30 October 2026.
These include changes to existing obligations on employers to take steps to prevent their employees being harassed by third parties. The definition of what is meant by those steps has been significantly tweaked by one word, to ensure there is less room for argument.
An employer who had been taking sensible steps but missed some obvious ones will now be in difficulty defending such a claim. struggle to defend a claim.
Breach of this requirement can lead to a 25% uplift in compensation, as well as enforcement action by the EHRC.
At some pint the government may also introduce regulations about precisely what steps must be taken by employers.
Workers “on strike” are also now protected from detriment as well as dismissal.
The Protection Against Detriment (Industrial Action) Regulations 2026 prohibit any detriment where the sole or main purpose is to prevent or deter a worker from taking part in prolonged strike action, or to penalise them if they do so.
Deducting pay for strike days is unaffected. The Acas Code uplift of up to 25% applies to these claims. So, Employers need to think carefully before withdrawing overtime, or discretionary payments, or remove development opportunities from those who took part in strike action.
The are important changes to trades union recognition from 30 October 2026. These can affect who can ballot and when. The rules on unfair practices also apply much earlier in the process to try to stop employers recruiting new employees in order to dilute support for the union.
Equality representatives of recognised unions now have a new right to paid time off and other facilities.
Union officials and learning representatives have also now gained a right to reasonable accommodation and facilities for their duties.
Some other changes were also expected on the same date but won’t take effect until January 2027: the duty to tell workers in writing of their right to join a union; and tribunal time limits doubled to six months.