U.K. Employment Rights Act will lead to rise in tribunal claims
By 
Ruth Prickett2026-01-24T01:20:00
The number of U.K. employment tribunal cases could rise by 17 percent following reforms in the Employment Rights Act 2025. A host of changes come into force this year, such as reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal to six months, giving workers rights from day one in the job, strengthening protection for pregnant women, and ending “exploitative” contracts.
The U.K. government’s Economic Analysis of the Act, published on Jan. 7, shows it will “pile” thousands more cases onto a “creaking” employment tribunal system, according to the Law Gazette. This could lead to an extra 21,000 early conciliation notifications to the arbitration service Acas, 6,900 more employment tribunal cases, and 1,300 further cases requiring judicial time.
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