The employment law changes in October 2026 are the next stage of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Three of them reach most businesses. The time limit for bringing an employment tribunal claim doubled to six months on 1 October. From 30 October, the duty to prevent sexual harassment becomes a duty to take all reasonable steps, and employers become liable for harassment of their staff by customers, clients and contractors.
These changes apply to every employer, regardless of how many people they employ. There is no small business exemption and no headcount threshold.
Two changes that were expected in October have moved. The new tipping rules are now due by the end of 2026, and the duty to tell workers they can join a trade union is now due in January 2027. This guide explains which employment law changes October 2026 brings, what each one means in practice, and what to do about them now.
At a glance
- 1 October 2026: people can bring most employment tribunal claims up to six months after the event, rather than three.
- 30 October 2026: employers must take all reasonable steps, not just reasonable steps, to prevent sexual harassment.
- 30 October 2026: employers become liable for harassment of their employees by third parties such as customers, clients and contractors.
- 30 October 2026: stronger trade union rights of access and representation.
- By the end of 2026: employers who take tips must consult their workers on the tipping policy and review it at least every three years.
- January 2027: every employer must tell each worker in writing that they have the right to join a trade union.
Where the dates come from
The government's implementation timeline gives the plan, but a change only takes effect when regulations bring it into force. Both October dates are now fixed in law, by the regulations for the time limits and the regulations for the harassment and union measures. The tipping and trade union statement dates have no regulations yet, so treat them as the current plan rather than law.
Tribunal claims: six months instead of three
This change has the widest reach, because it touches every dispute you have. Until 1 October, someone had three months less one day to bring most employment tribunal claims. The limit is now six months for unfair dismissal, discrimination and most other claims. In Scotland, the change for breach of contract claims follows on 9 November.
The new limit applies where the event the claim is about happened on or after 1 October 2026. For a dismissal, that is the date the employment ended. A dismissal on 15 October 2026 can now be challenged until April 2027, rather than January. Where someone complains about a run of conduct over time, the six months run from the end of it, so earlier events can still come in.
What doubles is the time you spend not knowing whether a claim is coming. Acas early conciliation, which can run for up to 12 weeks, pauses the clock as well. In practice, a claim can now reach you around nine months after the event. By then, managers will not remember the meeting clearly, people involved may have left, and emails may have been deleted.
Sexual harassment: all reasonable steps from 30 October
Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, and most have a policy and some training in place as a result. We covered that preventative duty when it came in.
From 30 October 2026 the duty becomes one to take all reasonable steps, and the extra word changes the test. A tribunal will no longer ask whether you took some sensible measures. It will ask whether there was anything further you could reasonably have done and did not do.
That moves the weight onto evidence. A written risk assessment, a review of it and a record of acting on what it found become the difference between defending a claim and losing one. The government can now make regulations listing the steps it expects, but none have been made yet. The higher standard applies from 30 October regardless.
Harassment by customers, clients and contractors
The second harassment change creates a new liability rather than raising an existing bar. From 30 October 2026, an employer must not permit a third party, such as a customer, client, supplier or contractor, to harass its employees.
The test works in the same way. You are treated as permitting the harassment if it happens in the course of the employee's work and you failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Nothing has to have happened before, so a single incident can lead to a claim.
It also covers harassment related to any protected characteristic, such as race, disability or religion, not only sexual harassment. That brings in any business whose staff deal with the public, visit client sites or work alongside contractors. Acas guidance on the change gives examples of steps an employer can take. Your reporting routes need to work for something a customer said, not only for something a colleague did.
Tipping: consultation now due by the end of 2026
Tipping is the change employers most often overlook, because it reads as a hospitality footnote. Any business that receives tips, gratuities or service charges on more than an occasional basis must already have a written tipping policy. Since October 2024 the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has also required tips to be passed to workers in full.
The new Act adds consultation. You will have to consult your workers, or their representatives where they have them, before producing your first policy and again at every review. An anonymised summary of their views then goes to everyone at that site.
This was due on 1 October. The government withdrew its revised Code of Practice in July, consulted on a new draft in August and September, and now expects the change by the end of 2026. The draft asks for genuine consultation rather than a formality.
The three-year review clock
You must review your policy at least once in the three years from the day you first made it available, and that count includes days before the new rule starts. A policy first issued in October 2024 therefore needs a consulted review by October 2027. Work out when yours was first issued now, because part of the window may already have gone.
Telling workers they can join a trade union
From January 2027, every employer will have to give each worker a written statement of their right to join a trade union. It goes out alongside the written statement of employment particulars, and it applies whether or not you recognise a union or have any union members. This was expected in October, so if you had started preparing, you now have a little longer.
The rest of the October changes
The other October measures matter mainly to unionised workplaces, the public sector and adult social care.
- Union access and recognition. From 30 October, unions gain a stronger right of access to workplaces, the recognition process changes, and union and equality representatives gain new rights to time off and facilities.
- Adult social care pay. The government is due to set up a body to negotiate pay and conditions in adult social care in England.
- Public sector outsourcing. A code to protect staff who transfer out of the public sector was planned for October. It now has no date.
What employers should do now
The employment law changes October 2026 brings all reward the same preparation, which is a written record of what you decided and why.
- Run a written harassment risk assessment. Identify where the risk sits, including customer-facing roles and work on client sites, and record what you decided to do about each one.
- Extend your harassment policy to third parties. Say plainly that it covers harassment by customers, clients and contractors, and give staff a clear way to report it.
- Train managers to the higher standard. They need to recognise third-party harassment and know that they must act on it rather than smooth it over.
- Keep records for longer. Hold disciplinary, grievance and dismissal records well beyond six months, and check that automatic email deletion is not quietly removing evidence you would need.
- Plan your tipping consultation. If you take tips, find out when your policy was first issued, because the first consulted review falls due within three years of that date.
- Prepare the trade union statement. Draft the wording and decide how you will issue it with your statement of particulars, ready for January.
How we can help
Most business owners want to handle this properly. What they lack is the time to track an Act that arrives in stages over two years, with dates that move, and turn it into their own paperwork. That is where we come in.
At Bespoke HR, we carry out harassment risk assessments and update policies and handbooks to the new standard. We also deliver the manager training that makes an all reasonable steps defence credible. For businesses that take tips, we can run the consultation and write the policy and the summary. We can also prepare your trade union statement and review how long you keep your records. Whether you want a one-off review or ongoing HR support, our team does the work rather than handing you a checklist.
Final thoughts
The tribunal change is already here, and the harassment duties follow at the end of the month. Each of these changes rewards the same thing, which is a written record of what you assessed, what you decided and who you consulted. Put that in place now, and the later dates become entries in the diary rather than a scramble.
Common questions
What employment law changes happen in October 2026?
Two dates matter. On 1 October 2026 the time limit for most employment tribunal claims rose from three months to six. On 30 October 2026 the duty to prevent sexual harassment becomes a duty to take all reasonable steps, employers become liable for harassment of their staff by third parties, and trade union access and recognition rights are strengthened. The tipping consultation rules are now due by the end of 2026, and the trade union statement in January 2027.
Are employment tribunal time limits now six months?
Yes, for most claims where the event complained of happened on or after 1 October 2026. That includes unfair dismissal and discrimination. Where the event happened before 1 October, the old three-month limit still applies. Acas early conciliation pauses the clock for up to 12 weeks, so a claim can now arrive around nine months after the event.
What does "all reasonable steps" mean for preventing sexual harassment?
It raises the standard an employer must meet from 30 October 2026. Before, a tribunal asked whether you took reasonable steps. Now it asks whether there was anything further you could reasonably have done and did not do. In practice that means a written risk assessment, a policy that reflects it, training, and a record of reviewing it and acting on what you found.
Are employers liable for harassment by customers or clients?
From 30 October 2026, yes. An employer must not permit a third party, such as a customer, client or contractor, to harass its employees. You are treated as permitting it if the harassment happens in the course of the employee's work and you failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. A single incident is enough, and it covers harassment related to any protected characteristic, not only sexual harassment.
When do the new tipping rules start?
They were due on 1 October 2026 but have moved, and the government now expects them by the end of 2026. Employers who take tips will have to consult their workers before writing their first tipping policy and at every review, share an anonymised summary of the views, and review the policy at least every three years. The three years for the first review run from the day you first made the policy available, including days before the rule starts.
Do employers have to tell staff they can join a trade union?
Yes, from January 2027 rather than October 2026 as first planned. Every employer will have to give each worker a written statement of their right to join a trade union, alongside the written statement of employment particulars. It applies whether or not you recognise a union and whether or not any of your staff are members.
Do these changes apply to small businesses?
Yes. The tribunal time limits, the harassment duties and the trade union statement apply to every employer, regardless of how many people they employ, and the tipping rules cover any business that takes tips. There is no small business exemption, no headcount threshold, and no lighter version of the duties for smaller organisations.
