UK Employment Rights Act trade union and industrial relations measures take effect

The first major tranche of measures under the UK Employment Rights Act took effect on 18 February 2026, instituting a set of changes that relate primarily to trade-union rights and industrial relations. The legislation had been debated and enacted under the name Employment Rights Bill before receiving its final designation as the Employment Rights Act.

Trade unions, employer groups and employment-law practices provided extensive coverage and commentary after the measures took effect on 18 February 2026. That attention concentrated on the components of the Act that affect collective bargaining, dispute procedures and other industrial relations arrangements, as reported in briefings circulated since the change in status from Bill to Act.

Employers are now operating with the first tranche of statutory changes in force as of 18 February 2026, a shift that human resources and industrial relations teams will need to factor into workplace procedures. The measures took effect in the middle of a negotiating cycle for many organisations, and the Act’s reclassification from the Employment Rights Bill to the Employment Rights Act signals there will be further legislative stages to follow.

Employment-law practices have been updating client advice since 18 February 2026 to reflect the new trade-union and industrial relations measures in the Act. That professional guidance has been circulating in legal updates and client briefings from firms specialising in workplace law, addressing how the first tranche alters employer obligations and union rights under existing UK employment frameworks.

The coming weeks and months will show how the new measures from the Employment Rights Act reshape negotiations between employers and unions and how employer groups adapt procedures introduced on 18 February 2026. With the first major tranche now in force, organisations affected by trade-union activity and collective bargaining will need to monitor subsequent tranches of the Act and any regulatory or advisory material that follows.