Employment Rights Act 2025: what it means for your rota
Some of the Act is already in force. The parts that change how you schedule shifts — guaranteed hours, notice of shifts, and pay for short-notice cancellations — are expected in 2027 and are still being consulted on. This page separates the two, and says where each statement comes from.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026. Sources:GOV.UK implementation timeline,Acas guidance, andthe Act itself.
Already in force
These provisions have commenced. Dates are those published by GOV.UK and Acas.
- In force18 December 2025
Minimum service level rules for strikes removed
The minimum service level requirements introduced by earlier legislation no longer apply.
Source - In force6 April 2026
Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of illness
SSP starts from day one of sickness absence rather than the fourth day. Where your rota records when someone was scheduled and did not work, that record is the starting point for the absence.
Source - In force6 April 2026
Paternity and parental leave become day-one rights
No qualifying service period is required before these rights apply.
Source - In force6 April 2026
Holiday record-keeping requirements
Employers are subject to holiday record-keeping requirements. This is the one records-related duty in the current tranche that is already in force.
Source - In force1 October 2026
Employment Tribunal claim time limit rises to 6 months
The window in which a claim can be brought doubles from three to six months. In practice this widens the period over which contemporaneous records of what was scheduled, offered and cancelled may still be relevant.
Source - In force30 October 2026
Trade union access rights and harassment prevention measures
Further measures from the Act commence.
Source
Expected in 2027, not yet settled
These are the provisions that change shift scheduling. None has commenced, and the detail of each is still to be set out in regulations.
- ExpectedExpected 2027
Right to guaranteed hours
Workers on zero-hours and low-hours contracts are expected to gain a right to be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours they actually work, if they want them. Qualifying thresholds and the reference period are to be set out in regulations and are still subject to consultation — no threshold or reference-period length is stated on this page because none has been fixed.
Source - ExpectedExpected 2027
Right to reasonable notice of shifts and changes to shifts
A right to reasonable notice of a shift, and of any change to a shift. What counts as reasonable is expected to be set out in regulations.
Source - ExpectedExpected 2027
Payment for shifts cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice
Compensation where a shift is cancelled, shortened, or moved to another time at short notice. The amount and the definition of short notice are expected to be set in regulations.
Source - ExpectedExpected 2027
Unfair dismissal qualifying period reduced; fire-and-rehire protections
Listed on the GOV.UK timeline under 2027 measures.
Source
Detailed thresholds and commencement dates for the 2027 rights remain subject to regulations and parliamentary processes. GOV.UK states that the timings for guaranteed hours, reasonable notice and short-notice payments will be updated after consultation, and that all future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change.
What you can do now
You cannot comply with a rule that has not been made. What you can do is make sure that when the rules are set, the history they will be applied to already exists — because the one thing regulations will not do is reconstruct last year's rota for you.
Guaranteed hours
Keep a continuous record of the hours each person actually works, not just the hours you planned. When the qualifying rules are set out in regulations, the calculation runs against a history you already hold rather than one you have to reconstruct.
Guaranteed-hours calculator in Toi 'n' Moi® Rota ManagementReasonable notice of shifts and changes
Record when each shift was published and when any change was communicated, so the notice actually given is a fact on file rather than a recollection.
Shift-offer and notice ledger in Toi 'n' Moi® Rota ManagementPayment for short-notice cancellations
Log every cancellation, curtailment and move with its timestamp, so the pay consequence can be worked out from the record once the rules are set.
Cancellation register in Toi 'n' Moi® Rota ManagementWhere this leaves employers
The practical effect of the 2027 rights is that decisions you make casually today — moving a shift by text message, cancelling at short notice over the phone — become facts you may later be asked to evidence. From 1 October 2026 the window for bringing an Employment Tribunal claim is six months rather than three, which lengthens the period over which a contemporaneous record stays relevant.
None of that requires new software. It requires that the record exists, is dated, and was not written after the fact. A rota system that captures publication times, changes and cancellations as they happen produces that record as a by-product of normal use, which is what Toi 'n' Moi® Rota Management is built to do.