Employment law in the UK is going through its biggest shake-up in a generation, and October 2026 is when several of the headline changes actually take effect. If you’ve been putting off reviewing your policies until “closer to the time,” this is that time.
Two key dates are fast approaching. From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing most employment Tribunal claims doubles. From 30 October 2026, employers face a more onerous duty to prevent sexual harassment and a new set of trade union rights. Both are part of the wider Employment Rights Act 2025 reform programme, and they won’t be the last changes. A further round, including significant reforms to unfair dismissal rights, is due in January 2027, drastically changing the current landscape and popular understanding
This post walks you through what’s changing and what it means in practice. We also address what employers should be doing now to prepare for these changes, as well as any future ones.
From 1 October 2026: Employment Tribunal time limits double
The core change here is straightforward but significant: the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims increases from three months to six months.
It doesn’t stand alone, either. From 1 December 2025, the maximum period for ACAS Early Conciliation, which pauses the Tribunal limitation clock while it’s ongoing, has already doubled from six to twelve weeks. Put the two changes together, and employees now have considerably longer to take advice, gather evidence and start the claims process.
For employers, that means a much longer window of potential exposure after any workplace dispute. In practice, this is likely to translate into:
- More claims reaching the Tribunal within time, where they might previously have been barred by the shorter limitation period
- Workplace disputes staying “live” for longer before an employer can be confident the risk of a claim has passed
- A greater need to retain documents, emails and investigation records for longer
- More reliance on contemporaneous manager notes, since memories of what happened fade well before six months are up
Employers now need to assume that disputes could resurface for twice as long, and keep their records accordingly.
From 30 October 2026: Tougher harassment protections
The second change is a significant expansion of employers’ obligations in relation to workplace harassment. From 30 October 2026, the law is expected to strengthen the duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment and also extend protection where employees are harassed by third parties in the course of their work.
On sexual harassment, the current duty to take “reasonable steps” will be strengthened to a duty to take “all reasonable steps”. That is an important shift. It raises the bar on what employers are expected to do to prevent sexual harassment before it happens, rather than simply reacting once a complaint is made.
But the changes do not stop there. Employers will also be obliged not to permit the harassment of their employees by third parties, such as customers, clients, contractors and anyone else their staff come into contact with in the course of their work. Importantly, that protection is not limited to sexual harassment. It is expected to apply more broadly to harassment related to the relevant protected characteristics generally.
That means this is not just a reform aimed at sexual misconduct. It potentially covers third-party conduct related to race, disability, religion or belief, age, sexual orientation, sex and other protected characteristics recognised by the Equality Act 2010. For many employers, particularly those in customer-facing, public-facing or service environments, that may represent the broader practical risk.
In practice, this means having an anti-harassment policy sitting in a folder somewhere is no longer enough. Employers need to be able to demonstrate proactive, ongoing prevention work across their organisation, including in relation to risks created by people who are not part of the workforce. If a complaint arises, the focus is likely to be on what the employer did in advance to identify the risk and take reasonable preventative steps.
Based on EHRC guidance, that includes being able to answer yes to questions like:
- Have we identified where the risks of harassment are in our organisation?
- Have we carried out a meaningful risk assessment?
- Are managers trained to recognise and deal with concerns?
- Do employees know how to report concerns and trust they’ll be taken seriously?
- Are we reviewing our policies and training to check they’re actually working?
- Have we considered the risks posed by customers, clients and contractors, not just colleagues?
This is an ongoing, proactive duty rather than a one-off policy update, and it’s one of the areas where employers are most exposed if they haven’t started preparing.
From 30 October 2026: Trade union reforms
The same date also brings a set of changes to trade union law. Independent trade unions will gain a new legal right to access workplaces and engage with workers, either in person or virtually, to recruit, meet, and support workers. Employers will also have a new duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.
For employers, this means taking the following steps:
- Reviewing how requests for workplace access will be handled
- Updating staff communications and onboarding materials to reflect the new right to join a union
- Training managers on what to do if a union requests access or a recognition process begins to ensure lawful engagement
Looking ahead: Unfair dismissal changes from 1 January 2027
October 2026 isn’t the end of the story. From 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal protections change further, with a shorter qualifying period for protection and the removal of the compensatory award cap. We’ll tell you more about that change closer to the time, but it certainly shows that the pace of employment law reforms does not appear to be slowing down.
What should employers be doing now?
With multiple changes landing at once, the organisations in the strongest position come November will be the ones that started preparing over the summer. As a starting point, employers should be:
- Reviewing anti-harassment policies and carrying out (or refreshing) risk assessments
- Building or updating manager training, covering both harassment concerns and how to handle union access requests
- Strengthening reporting channels and making sure concerns raised are followed through
- Reviewing document and record retention practices in light of longer Tribunal exposure
- Preparing staff communications on the new right to join a trade union
- Getting ahead of the October 2026 deadline, rather than reacting once claims or complaints arise
Doing all of this properly takes legal input, the right HR infrastructure, and, if something does go wrong despite your best efforts, protection against the cost of defending a claim.
That’s exactly where our team can help.
How are you preparing?
Between the Tribunal time limit changes, the tougher harassment duty and the new trade union rights, there’s a lot for employers to get through before the October deadlines, and January 2027 is already on the horizon behind it. The organisations that start preparing now are likely to be in a much stronger position when these changes take effect, rather than managing risk at the most expensive possible moment: after something has already gone wrong.
How is your organisation preparing for the October 2026 reforms? If you’d like help reviewing your policies, training or documentation ahead of the changes, get in touch with our employment team.
