Does the new Employment Rights Act impact health and safety?

The Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2025 is one of Labour’s flagship pieces of legislation, with some of the key measures coming into force on 6th April 2026, and others following later in the year and 2027. It mainly concerns HR, but some aspects directly impact health and safety too.

Whilst the new ERA 2025 may be on your radar – its been in the news a lot! – you may not have realised that it doesn’t only concern HR and legal teams. Certain areas require input from health and safety too.

 

How is health and safety impacted?

Part of the ERA 2025 focuses on fundamental elements of workplace safety such as:

• Predictable shifts
• Worker status
• Whistle-blowing protections
• Harassment prevention

It all overlaps with HR, but these are issues which your health and safety may collaborate on, or in some businesses lead. This will help ensure that the new rules are executed in a way that upholds or improves existing safety standards.

Predictable shifts

Under the new act, workers are entitled, after an initial 12-week period, to guaranteed hours. This is scheduled to come into effect in 2027. When it happens, health and safety could be positively impacted as it:

• May improve mental health of workers if they were bothered about uncertainty
• Could reduce last-minute under-staffing which might result in safety failures

It is important that health and safety leads are included in shift planning as they can identify which roles require staffing at a safe level to avoid creating risk if under-staffed.

Businesses will also be required to give advance notice of shifts and any changes. The predictability of shifts for both workers and businesses will help employers plan safe staffing levels and reduce risks associated with under-staffing.

If you previously relied on last-minute flexibility of staffing, this poses a new problem. Your health and safety should incorporate this into your risk assessment, balancing the need for emergency staffing with the new ERA 2025.

The Fair Work Agency

As part of the ERA 2025, the Fair Work Agency is introduced and this too impacts upon health and safety for your business. The Fair Work Agency has investigatory powers which can call on employers to provide comprehensive records that go beyond conventional safety documentation.

The HSE remains the primary regulatory body, but Fair Work Agency inspectors might request documentation around pay, working time, training and policies.

Harassment prevention

The ERA 2025 further supports the Worker Protection Act 2023 in regards to sexual harassment. From October 2026, employers will be legally required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent such harassment.

From a health and safety perspective, you should be assessing both procedural and environmental risks that might increase the risk of harassment. Examples of such factors include:

• Lone working
• Workplace layout
• Client interaction

Going forwards, disclosures about sexual harassment will qualify for protection under whistleblowing law, provided they meet the usual whistleblowing criteria. Training in this area becomes even more important.

How will health and safety be at risk?

It is essential that health and safety is rigorous within your business, to comply with the latest legal requirements.

In your business you must ensure that as far as health and safety is concerned you:

• Keep accurate records
• Have robust whistleblowing systems
• Train staff thoroughly
• Risk assess, including the environmental and procedural risks for harassment and misconduct

Will it affect my business?

In short, yes. All businesses are impacted by the ERA 2025. One clear company-sized based difference is the requirement for businesses with more than 250 employees to publish plans addressing menopause support (in addition to gender pay gaps) – voluntarily from April 2026, with mandatory publication expected further down the line.

The start of a new ERA… Does your business need support?

The good news is that here at The Health & Safety Dept, we are here to support your business. We can assess where your business is not meeting the new requirements under the ERA 2025. Our expert staff can then tailor support to your business to make sure that you are compliant. For more general Employment Rights Act support, The HR Dept has a lot of resources and advice available.

Get in touch today to find out more about how we can help you.