Commenced workplace sexual harassment protections and expanded trade union recognition and access rights from 30 October 2026.

These Regulations bring several major provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 into force on 30 October 2026, primarily concerning workplace harassment protections, seafarers' conditions, and trade union rights.

They mandate that employers take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, introduce liability for third-party harassment, and grant trade unions expanded access to workplaces and facilities for equality representatives.

The order also establishes transitional rules to ensure that ongoing trade union recognition applications filed before the commencement date continue under the previous legal framework.

Extended the time limit for bringing employment tribunal claims from three months to six months, effective from 1 October 2026.

These regulations bring into force the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 that extend the statutory time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims from three months to six months.

The new timeframe applies to a wide range of disputes, including unfair dismissal, unauthorized wage deductions, and breaches of flexible working or maternity rights.

The instrument establishes 1 October 2026 as the commencement date and provides specific transitional rules to determine whether a claim falls under the old or new time limit based on the date the dispute arose.

Expanded trade union balloting methods to include electronic, hybrid, and workplace voting while updating unfair dismissal protections.

This Order amends the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 to permit trade unions to conduct elections and industrial action ballots via electronic, hybrid, and workplace voting in addition to traditional postal methods.

It directs a 'responsible person' within the union to determine which voting methods are available for a given ballot based on specific security and accessibility criteria.

The Order applies to trade unions, employers, and independent scrutineers, mandating strict technical standards such as Cyber Essentials Plus certification, data encryption, and the maintenance of comprehensive audit logs.

The Regulations set staggered commencement dates of July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027, for specific unfair dismissal provisions within the Employment Rights Act 2025 and included transitional rules.

These Regulations establish the specific commencement dates for further sections of the Employment Rights Act 2025, focusing primarily on provisions related to unfair dismissal found in section 25 and Schedule 3.

Specifically, key elements are brought into force partially on 1st July 2026 to enable procedural amendments, while the main body of section 25 and related consequential amendments commence fully on 1st January 2027.

The instrument also establishes transitional and saving provisions to govern cases where an employee's effective date of termination bridges these commencement dates.

The Regulations amended Schedule 4 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to replace the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with the Fair Work Agency as a relevant public authority with specific investigatory powers.

These Regulations, made by the Secretary of State under the powers granted by the Employment Rights Act 2025, amend the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to ensure that the Fair Work Agency, which is taking over the functions of the abolished Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), retains the necessary authority to access communications data for enforcement purposes.

The amendment specifically updates the list of relevant public authorities in Schedule 4 of the 2016 Act, substituting the GLAA's designation with that of the Fair Work Agency within the Department for Business and Trade.

The Regulations amended multiple statutory instruments, including those concerning employment agencies, gangmaster licensing appeals, and proceeds of crime investigations, to replace references to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority with the Secretary of State, following provisions in the Employment Rights Act 2025.

These Regulations, operating under the powers granted by the Employment Rights Act 2025, make necessary consequential amendments to various pieces of secondary legislation to align them with the new enforcement structure established by the 2025 Act, chiefly involving the transfer of functions previously held by the now-abolished Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) to the Secretary of State and integrating new enforcement officers into regulatory and financial investigation frameworks.