23/02/2026

A number of new employment rights under the GB Employment Rights Act came into effect on 18 February 2026. These apply in Great Britain only.

Employers operating across both NI and GB should be aware of the increasing differences between the two jurisdictions.

The measures now in force in GB include:

• Repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016, removing many of the restrictions previously placed on Trade Unions and simplifying requirements around industrial action and political funds;
• Removal of the 10‑year ballot requirement for trade union political funds;
• Simplified industrial action notices and ballot notices, reducing administrative requirements;
• Strengthened protections against dismissal for employees taking part in industrial action;
• Employees newly eligible for ‘Day 1’ Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave can now give shortened notice of 28 days as a transitional measure.

These changes form part of a wider programme of reforms being rolled out across GB set out in the Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update

The position in Northern Ireland

NI has its own proposed Employment Rights Bill that is expected to be published at the end of April 2026. This NI Bill differs to the GB Employment Rights Act 2025.  Many of the NI proposals are aimed at bringing NI broadly into line with where GB currently is, rather than adopting the new additional rights now being introduced in GB.

However, in some areas, NI and GB share similar policy objectives but are choosing different methods to achieve them. For example, both jurisdictions are looking at ways to address exploitative zero‑hour contracts. NI is considering banded hours contracts, while GB is introducing a right to guaranteed hours.

Furthermore, some of the headline GB reforms will not be introduced in NI. For example, only in GB will the unfair dismissal qualifying period be reduced to 6 months, and only in GB will unfair dismissal compensation become unlimited.

It is also worth noting that some of the legislation being amended or repealed in GB never applied to NI in the first place. These include the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 which were never implemented in NI.

We will continue to highlight the similarities and differences for employers across NI/GB as the evolving landscape can be confusing. We are also liaising with our sister Organisation, MAKE UK to arrange a joint webinar exploring each proposal and considering the position in both jurisdiction.