ERA 2025: What Changes for Employees on 18 February

14 February 2026 · Tom Street, Solicitor

On Monday, the first major batch of Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms comes into force. If you’re a trade union member, or you’ve ever worried about the consequences of taking industrial action, 18 February 2026 is a date worth knowing.

These changes tilt the balance back towards workers in a way we haven’t seen for years. Here’s what’s actually changing, and what it means for you.

You can no longer be sacked for striking

Until now, employees who took part in lawful industrial action had protection from dismissal for 12 weeks only. After that, your employer could dismiss you and you’d have no claim for automatically unfair dismissal, provided they’d taken reasonable steps to resolve the dispute.

From 18 February, that 12-week limit is gone. Dismissal for taking part in protected industrial action will be automatically unfair, full stop. No time limit. No qualifying period. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve worked there for two months or twenty years.

This is a significant shift. Under the old rules, employers could effectively wait out a strike, knowing that the 12-week clock was ticking. Once it expired, they had the upper hand. That leverage disappears on Monday.

One important detail: this protection applies to industrial action that starts on or after 18 February 2026. If you’re already taking industrial action that began before that date, the old 12-week rule still applies.

It’s now easier for unions to call industrial action

The Employment Rights Act repeals most of the Trade Union Act 2016, which had made it deliberately harder for unions to organise. From Monday, several of those barriers come down:

The 40% public services threshold is removed. Under the old rules, industrial action in “important public services” (health, education, transport, fire, border security, nuclear) required not just a majority vote, but 40% support of all those entitled to vote. That’s gone. A simple majority of those who actually vote is now enough, regardless of sector.

The notice period drops from 14 to 10 days. Unions previously had to give employers 14 days’ notice before industrial action could begin. That’s been reduced to 10 days, and the amount of detail unions need to include in the notice has been simplified.

Ballot mandates last 12 months, not six. A successful ballot for industrial action used to expire after six months. From Monday, unions have a full year to act on a mandate, meaning fewer re-ballots and more sustained pressure if a dispute drags on.

Ballot papers are simplified. Unions no longer need to include a summary of the trade dispute on the ballot paper, they just need to ask members whether they support strike action or action short of a strike.

No more picket supervisors. The requirement to appoint a named picket supervisor is abolished.

New parents can give notice of leave from Monday

This is less headline-grabbing but still matters. From 18 February, employees can start giving their employer notice of their intention to take paternity leave and unpaid parental leave as day-one rights. The actual entitlement to take that leave kicks in from 6 April 2026, but the notice provisions start now.

Currently, you need 26 weeks’ service for paternity leave and a year’s service for unpaid parental leave. Both qualifying periods are being scrapped. If you’re expecting a child and started a new job recently, you’ll be able to take leave from day one of your employment once the April changes arrive.

What this means in practice

If you’re a trade union member, the practical effect is clear: industrial action becomes easier to organise, harder for employers to obstruct, and safer for you to take part in. The removal of the 12-week dismissal window is the biggest change. It means employers can no longer use the threat of dismissal as a tool to break strikes once they’ve lasted a few months.

If you’re not in a union, these changes might feel less immediately relevant. But they’re part of a broader shift in the Employment Rights Act 2025 that strengthens employee protections across the board. More changes are coming in April (day-one sick pay, whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment disclosures), October (extended tribunal time limits, union workplace access), and January 2027 (the big one: unfair dismissal protection after just six months’ service, with no compensation cap).

What I think

I’m broadly supportive of these changes. The Trade Union Act 2016 was designed to make industrial action as difficult as possible, and the 40% threshold for public services was particularly cynical, a standard that most elected politicians wouldn’t meet. Removing it is overdue.

The extension of automatic unfair dismissal protection beyond 12 weeks is long overdue too. The old rule created a perverse incentive for employers to dig in and wait out a dispute, knowing the clock was on their side. That’s not good for resolving workplace disputes; it’s good for punishing workers who exercise a lawful right.

If you’re currently involved in an industrial dispute, or you’re considering taking industrial action, get advice on how these transitional rules apply to your specific situation. The protections for action starting before 18 February are different from those starting on or after that date, and getting the timing wrong could matter.

And if you’ve been dismissed or suffered a detriment for taking part in industrial action, whether before or after these changes, speak to a solicitor. Time limits for tribunal claims are strict, and the sooner you act, the better your position.