How Ready Is Your Business for the Employment Rights Act 2025?
This free ERA 2025 compliance checker asks twelve yes/no questions about your contracts, policies and processes, then scores your readiness and builds a priority action list ordered by legal deadline. Built by CIPD-qualified HR consultants for North West employers and kept current as each phase of the Employment Rights Act 2025 comes into force.
Check Your Readiness NowWhy Check Your ERA 2025 Compliance Now?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 became law on 18 December 2025, but it does not arrive all at once — it lands in waves, and three have already hit. Since April 2026, SSP has been payable from day one of absence, paternity and unpaid parental leave are day-one rights, the collective redundancy protective award has doubled to 180 days’ pay, and reporting sexual harassment is a protected disclosure. The Fair Work Agency has been open since 7 April 2026, with the power to inspect employers directly.
The waves still coming are bigger. From 1 October 2026, tribunal claim windows double from three months to six, and employers become liable for third-party harassment unless they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. In January 2027, fire and rehire restrictions arrive. And on 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal protection begins at six months’ service — with the compensation cap removed the same day. Every one of those changes has a documentation or process consequence, and most North West SME handbooks have not caught up. Our employer guide to the Employment Rights Act 2025 covers each change in depth; this checker tells you where your business stands today.
Twelve questions, two minutes, no legal knowledge needed. Answer honestly — the score is only useful if the answers are true, and nobody sees them but you.
ERA 2025 Compliance Scorecard
Answer each question honestly. Your compliance score and priority action list will be generated instantly.
Have your employment contracts been issued or reviewed since December 2025?
Does your absence policy reflect SSP from day one, with no waiting days?
Do your family leave policies state day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave, with statutory paternity pay still requiring 26 weeks’ service?
Do your redundancy documents reflect the 180-day protective award for collective consultation failures?
Does your whistleblowing policy list sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure?
Could you produce your minimum wage, holiday pay and SSP records for a Fair Work Agency inspection this week?
Is your business ready for trade union access requests and the simplified recognition process (applies at 21 or more workers)?
Can you evidence all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including harassment by clients, customers and visitors?
Would your records and process notes survive a tribunal claim brought six months after the event?
Are your probation and dismissal processes ready for unfair dismissal protection at six months’ service?
Is your contract-change process ready for the fire and rehire restrictions?
If you use zero or low hours contracts, do you have a workforce plan for the guaranteed-hours obligations?
What the Twelve Questions Check
Each question maps to a specific ERA 2025 obligation with a date attached. Together they cover the four places compliance problems actually live: your contracts, your handbook, your manager practice, and your paper trail.
- 01Contract issue dates. Contracts last issued before December 2025 predate the Act entirely — the single strongest predictor of compliance gaps we see.
- 02SSP wording. If your absence policy still mentions three waiting days, it has been wrong since 6 April 2026.
- 03Paternity and parental leave clauses. Leave is a day-one right; statutory paternity pay still needs 26 weeks’ service. Policies must state both halves.
- 04Redundancy consultation. The protective award for getting collective consultation wrong doubled to 180 days’ pay per employee on 6 April 2026.
- 05Whistleblowing policy. Since 6 April 2026 it must list sexual harassment as a qualifying disclosure.
- 06Union readiness. Recognition was simplified in April 2026, and from October 2026 unions gain formal workplace access rights — only employers with fewer than 21 workers are exempt.
- 07Pay records. The Fair Work Agency can inspect minimum wage, holiday pay and SSP records directly. Could you produce yours this week?
- 08Harassment prevention. From 1 October 2026 you must show all reasonable steps — including against harassment by clients, customers and visitors.
- 09Probation and dismissal process. From 1 January 2027, unfair dismissal protection starts at six months’ service. Anyone hired before 1 July 2026 qualifies the day it lands.
- 10Contract-change practice. From January 2027, dismissing an employee for refusing a change to pay, pensions, hours or shifts becomes automatically unfair in most cases.
- 11Record longevity. Tribunal claim windows double to six months on 1 October 2026 — your notes and records need to survive longer than they used to.
- 12Zero and low hours planning. Guaranteed-hours obligations arrive in 2027. If you rely on flexible labour, the workforce plan needs to exist before the law does.
Turn Your Score Into a Plan
Book a free 30-minute consultation with a CIPD-qualified consultant. Bring your score and your priority list — we will tell you which gaps carry real risk for your business, which can wait, and honestly, whether you need our help to close them. Contracts and handbook fixes are quoted after a free documentation review, so you never pay for updates you do not need.
Written and reviewed by Samantha Boyle MCIPD. Last reviewed: 21 July 2026.
Serving employers across the North West: Bolton, Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Wigan, Warrington, Bury, Rochdale, Preston, Lancaster and Chester.