Employment Snapshot December 2025
Thursday 18th December 2025
Welcome to Gordons Employment Team’s latest update
This month we cover:
- The latest on the Employment Rights Act,
- ACAS early conciliation period extended to 12 weeks,
- How will statutory pay rates change? and;
- What is set to change with Restrictive Covenants?
Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Bill has just last week received Royal Assent and has now become the Employment Rights Act 2025. This follows the House of Lords backing down during the third round of parliamentary back and forth earlier this week.
The only substantive provision that comes into force immediately is the repeal of the provisions introduced by the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.
We now await further details of the expected consultations and impact assessment for the removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap. We will report on what the key implications are for most employers over the coming weeks and months. One big relief however is that unfair dismissal rights will not kick in for 6 months, rather than day one, as originally proposed.
ACAS early conciliation period extended to 12 weeks
From 1 December 2025, the maximum duration for ACAS early conciliation increased from six to 12 weeks.
How will statutory pay rates change?
The proposed statutory rates for parental pay and statutory sick pay as of April 2026 have been announced.
Restrictive Covenants – what is set to change?
The Government has recently started a consultation and issued a working paper seeking views on reforming non-compete clauses in employment contracts.
If you require any further information on the above topics, please do not hesitate to get in contact with a member of the Employment Team.
