Understand the Employment Rights Act 2025 and what it means for adult social care employers and the workforce, including key changes to employment law, workforce rights and preparing for upcoming reforms.
The Employment Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, marks a major overhaul of UK labour law aimed at enhancing worker protections through 2026 and beyond.
There are a number of key measures included in the Act that are relevant to the adult social care sector. These changes will be introduced gradually between 2026 and 2027, giving employers time to prepare and ensuring workers have clear information about their new rights.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is a key pillar of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay, which is aimed at growing the economy, boosting wages, and reducing insecure work. Read the Employment Rights Act 2025 factsheet and the Implementing the Act and roadmap for delivering change for more information.
Explore the practical guidance for businesses to prepare for the employment changes, as well helpful links to partners, like Acas, who can offer further support, and can also sign up to receive email updates about the Act.
Key measures in the Act for adult social care
Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care
The Government is working to introduce a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) in adult social care so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. The FPA will establish minimum pay and conditions through a new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body. The first FPA is backed by £500 million of funding.
The public consultation on the design of the FPA process in England closed in early 2026. The Government expect regulations establishing the Negotiating Body, bringing together employer and employee representatives, to be laid in 2026. Negotiations on pay, terms and conditions, and other matters, such as training and career progression, are expected to be held in 2027. Once the Negotiating Body has reached an agreement on how the funding should be spent, the first FPA in adult social care will be implemented in 2028.
Read more in the Negotiating Bodies and FPAs factsheet, in our joint blog with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and DHSC’s frequently asked questions, which also includes timelines for implementation.
DHSC has also created a short, animated video to help explain what is happening with FPAs.
Statutory Sick Pay
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum statutory payment an employee is entitled to for periods where they are unable to work due to illness. The key changes to SSP are:
- Eligible employees will now be entitled to SSP from their first full day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth.
- The lower earnings limit has been removed to make SSP available to all employees regardless of their weekly earnings. The changes introduced by the Act mean that the rate of SSP will be whatever is lower between 80% of an employee’s earnings or the current flat rate of SSP.
These changes come into force from April 2026.
Read more about the changes in the SSP factsheet. There is also helpful guidance as to how different employment types affect SSP eligibility.
Zero‑Hours Contracts
The Government is committed to ending one-sided flexibility and exploitative Zero-Hours Contracts (ZHC), ensuring that all jobs provide a baseline of security and predictability so workers can better plan their lives and finances. The Act introduces a series of measures to achieve this including:
- Right to guaranteed hours
- Reasonable notice of shifts
- Compensation for cancelled shifts.
These changes apply to agency workers too and are expected to commence from 2027, with a consultation expected in 2026.
Read more about the changes in the ZHC factsheet.
Creation of the Fair Work Agency (FWA)
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will be established as an Executive Agency of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), created administratively. The FWA will bring together existing state enforcement functions (e.g. HMRC and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)) and oversee compliance with minimum wage, holiday pay, and sick pay. Over time, it will also take on enforcement of a wider range of employment rights. The aim is that the FWA will become a single place where workers and employers can turn for help.
The FWA will be established in April 2026, but with no enforcement powers at first.
Read more in the FWA factsheet.
Stronger trade union access and lower recognition thresholds
The Government is repealing the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. This will update existing trade union legislation and reset industrial relations between unions, employers and workers. The repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 will mean that trade union access rights will be expanded, and recognition thresholds will be lowered. This will likely increase union activity, collective bargaining and workplace negotiations.
Read more about the changes in the trade unions factsheet.
Other measures in the Act
You can visit the Government website for more information on the Employment Rights Act 2025 and factsheets about other measures included within the Act, including Bereavement, paternity and unpaid Parental Leave, Flexible working, and Unfair dismissal.