On 26 February the government published two further consultation papers on the implementation of aspects of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA): Make Work Pay: threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations consultation and Make Work Pay: protection from detriments for taking industrial action – GOV.UK.

Collective consultation threshold

In addition to retaining the existing trigger for collective redundancy consultation, (20 or more redundancies at one establishment in a 90 day period) the ERA will introduce an additional trigger which will aggregate proposed dismissals across the organisation. The government is considering 2 options to set the new organisation-wide threshold:

• Option 1: Using a single fixed number in the range of 250 to 1,000.
• Option 2: Tiering the new obligation based on the number of employees.

Option 2 could be based on one of the following:

• A percentage of the workforce.
• Different fixed number thresholds depending on employer size (ie x dismissals where the employer employees 250-500 employees).
• A combination of fixed numbers and a percentage of the workforce (This would mean that collective redundancy obligations must be fulfilled when the employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant within a period of 90 days or less: 20 or more employees at one establishment; or the threshold number of employees which applies to that employer: A% of employees, where an employer employs fewer than Y# employees, B# or more employees, where an employer employs Y# or more employees).

The variable and fixed method would bring the UK in line with many countries in the EU; Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Spain all use a mix of variable and fixed numbers, based on size of organisation/establishment. However, the government’s preferred method is the tiered fixed number method.

The consultation paper also asks for views on when the employer should be required to calculate the size of the workforce for the purposes of determining whether the threshold has been reached.

The consultation will close on 21 May 2026. The government also intends to produce a Code of Practice on collective redundancy obligations and will consult on this in 2026.  The intended go-live date of the organisation-wide threshold for collective redundancy is 2027 (exact date to be confirmed).

You can respond online here: Make Work Pay | Collective Redundancy and Fire and Rehire Consultation

Detriments for taking industrial action

The ERA provides new protection for workers against detriments that they are subjected to by their employer to penalise, prevent or deter them from taking official industrial action. Government can set out the detriments which are to be prohibited in regulations. This consultation invites views on what those prohibited detriments should be.

Existing case law has defined ‘detriment’ broadly to mean no more than disadvantage.

It is well established that if a worker goes on strike they will not be paid for any time spent participating in that strike; such deductions from pay are not detriments. The government does not intend to change this position (the same applies to partial payment for action short of a strike).

The new ERA provision states that workers cannot be subjected to detriments for the ‘sole or main purpose’ of penalising, preventing or deterring a worker from taking industrial action. Actions or inaction of an employer that may be classed as a detriment but are not for the ‘sole or main purpose’ of penalising, preventing or deterring a worker from taking industrial action would not be prohibited. An example would be an employer sanctioning an individual, not for the purpose of penalising, preventing or deterring them from taking industrial action, but to discipline behaviour by an employee that occurred during industrial action which amounted to misconduct. Examples of such behaviour could include bringing the company into disrepute, failing to comply with confidentiality obligations, or violating codes of conduct. Similarly, sanctions imposed for criminal behaviour during industrial action, for example harassment or criminal damage, would also not be prohibited.

The government is consulting on 2 options in respect of prohibited detriments:

• Option A: Prohibit all detriments. This approach is consistent with other European countries (eg Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), which have taken a broad approach to protection for workers taking industrial action, with no detriment excluded from the outset, except for proportionate wage deductions.
• Option B: Prohibit listed detriments only – either specific detriments, or specific types of detriment.

Option A is currently the preferred option. The government has not set out any proposals for which detriments should be included or excluded (apart from pay) if Option B is chosen but is seeking views.

The government is also proposing to add detriment claims to the list of claims to which the employment tribunal can impose an uplift on compensation for failure to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures.

The consultation closes on 23 April 2026. You can respond online here: Protection from Detriments for Taking Industrial Action. The intention is for the regulations to be in place by October 2026.

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