Yesterday, the Government published an updated timeline for the implementation of the reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) including a delay to the restrictions on ‘fire and rehire’ to January 2027. Today, the Government has launched consultations on the provisions that will be covered by the new fire and rehire protections.
The timeline for the implementation of the various provisions in the ERA 2025 was published in July 2025. Under the original timeline, the new restrictions on ‘fire and rehire’ dismissals under S.28 ERA 2025 were due to come into force in October 2026; this has now been delayed until January 2027.
This delay does now mean that the ‘fire and rehire’ protection will come into force at the same time as the six-month qualifying period for protection against unfair dismissal (reduced from two years) and the removal of the statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards.
The Government also announced the following changes to the timeline:
The Government’s new timeline does confirm that despite the delays, they are still committed to the majority of the ERA 2025 coming into force according to the original timetable published in July 2025.
Alongside the timeline changes, the Government has today, 4 February 2026, launched two consultations relating to the ERA 2025:
We will provide updates on the outcome of these consultations
Hannah Pryce comments: “It is essential that employers remain vigilant to any forthcoming changes to the timeline and ensure their compliance with the new measures as they take effect. We recommend all employers look to review their contracts of employment to take account of the expected fire and re-hire restrictions to ensure they have flexibility moving forward”
If you have any questions on any of the upcoming changes, please contact a member of the team here.
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