The Employment Rights Act (ERA) represents the biggest change to the employment law landscape in a generation, significantly increasing protections for employees, opportunities for trade unions and risks for businesses. Most employers will already have seen extensive commentary on the ERA aimed at HR and legal teams; there is no shortage of guidance on the reforms ahead and already in force. The more difficult question is whether line managers are ready for the practical consequences. A key implementation challenge will be whether line managers are equipped to handle recruitment, probation, performance concerns and sensitive workplace issues in a consistent and legally robust way. If not, the result may be increased tribunal risk, worsening employee relations and avoidable cost.

Priority areas for employers

Employers should now be considering whether line managers are ready for the challenges in the following areas:

Recruitment

Where line managers are involved in recruitment, employers should review how decisions are made and whether managers are clear on their role in the process.

When the unfair dismissal qualifying period is reduced to six months and the compensation cap is removed, rushed hiring decisions, or decisions driven mainly by the pressure to fill a vacancy, may become much more costly. If employers only have six months to assess performance, conduct and ‘fit’ for the role, getting recruitment right at the outset becomes even more important.

Refresher training for hiring managers would be a sensible step, particularly where managers have significant input into selection decisions.

Performance management during probation

Most employers would accept that active performance management during probation is important, but in practice it is often handled inconsistently. The ERA will make that a higher-risk approach.

Employers will need managers to assess performance early, review it regularly and be ready to make decisions within a much shorter timeframe.

That is likely to require:

• Regular review points from an early stage.
• Clear expectations being set from day one.
• Diary prompts for key decision dates.
• A clear understanding of the risk of allowing issues to drift beyond the six-month point.

Managers may lack experience in running structured reviews, addressing underperformance early, recording concerns clearly, offering support and making timely decisions. Employers will have significantly less time to identify concerns and act, while the financial consequences of poor decision-making will increase materially. In many organisations, line managers are not yet ready for that shift.

However, unfair dismissal risks are only one part of the picture. Other ERA reforms will also affect how managers deal with day-to-day people issues.

Absence management

Absence management is another area to review. Since April, statutory sick pay (SSP) is payable from day one of absence rather than day four. Employees earning below the lower earnings limit also qualify for SSP.

For employers that do not currently enhance SSP, this may have a noticeable cost impact. At the same time, some businesses may expect absence levels to rise. That makes this a good point to check whether managers are equipped to:

• Monitor attendance actively.
• Carry out effective return-to-work meetings.
• Spot patterns at an earlier stage.
• Escalate concerns promptly and appropriately.

Harassment prevention

Line managers will be on the front line when it comes to implementation of the duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment, and the duty to prevent third party harassment which are expected to come into force in October 2026. Managers will play a key role in recognising risks and warning signs, investigating allegations, escalating concerns appropriately, role modelling good behaviour and calling out bad behaviour. Ineffective management will undermine any attempts to tackle these issues at the organisational level. It is crucial that managers understand what the new duties entail and their role in protecting the organisation.

Expanded family leave rights

The ERA also expands certain family leave rights. Paternity leave, although not paternity pay, is now a day-one right, as is the right to take unpaid parental leave.

Employers should make sure line managers understand these changes, which took effect from April, and are familiar with any related policy updates. Managers will need to deal with requests appropriately and know where to direct employees for further information.

Other articles in our Employment Rights Act 2025 series

• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Government publishes consultation on regulation of non-disclosure agreements – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Response to consultation on strengthening trade unions’ rights of access to the workplace – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Duty to keep holiday records means new legal risks for employers – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: April changes coming into force – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: New harassment measures extend protections for employees – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Contract change update and action points – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: The impact of changes to unfair dismissal – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Government launches gender pay gap and menopause action plans – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Consultations on the trigger for collective redundancy consultation and detriments for taking industrial action – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: First major Employment Rights Act measures come into force – Be Aware UK
• Employment Rights Act: Preparing for change: Consultations on implementation of measures on flexible working, fire and rehire and tipping – Be Aware UK

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