Introduction
The employment law changes due in October 2026 are the next stage of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Four of them reach most businesses: two on harassment, one on how long a potential tribunal claim can hang over you, and one on tips.
These apply regardless of how many people you employ, and the tipping rules cover any business that takes tips. There is no small business exemption and no headcount threshold. Everything else in the October package targets unionised workplaces, the public sector and adult social care.
The Act arrives in stages, following the sick pay and family leave changes that took effect on 6 April. This article explains the employment law changes October 2026 brings, which of them apply to you, what they mean in practice, and what to do between now and the autumn.
At a Glance
- The duty to prevent sexual harassment rises from "reasonable steps" to "all reasonable steps".
- Employers become liable for harassment of their employees by customers, clients, contractors and other third parties.
- The window in which someone can bring a tribunal claim looks set to double from three months to six.
- Employers who take tips must consult their workers before their first tipping policy and at every review, and review it at least every three years.
- Trade union rights, public sector outsourcing and adult social care pay make up the rest.
A Note on the Exact Dates
The government's published timeline confirms these measures for October 2026. Commencement regulations fix the specific days, and none has yet appointed a date. Its implementation roadmap names 6 April and 1 October as the common commencement dates for most regulations under the Act. Various commentators have named 30 October, though that is not settled in law. Treat October as your planning deadline and watch for the regulations.
Harassment: "All Reasonable Steps" Replaces "Reasonable Steps"
Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. Most businesses have already done something about it, usually a policy, some training, and an updated handbook. We covered that preventative duty when it came in.
October 2026 adds one word, and that 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 shifts the burden onto evidence. A documented risk assessment, a review, and a record of acting on it become the difference between defending a claim and losing one. Regulations due in 2027 will specify what counts as reasonable. The higher standard still applies from October.
Harassment by Customers, Clients and Contractors
The second harassment change creates new liability rather than raising an existing bar. Under section 21 of the Act, an employer must not permit a third party to harass an employee.
The test works the same way. You permit it where the harassment happens in the course of employment and you failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. There is no requirement for it to have happened before, so a single incident can found a claim.
Importantly, this covers all types of harassment, not only sexual harassment. This reaches any business whose employees deal with the public, visit client sites, or work alongside contractors. Reporting routes need to work for something a customer said, not only for something a colleague did.
The Tribunal Window Looks Set to Double
This change has the least settled timing, and the widest reach. It touches every dispute you have. The current time limit for most tribunal claims is three months less one day, and the Act raises it to six months. Acas expects this in October 2026, while the government's own timeline currently says "no earlier than October 2026".
What changes is how long someone has to submit a claim, so what doubles is the time you spend not knowing whether one is coming. Add the Acas early conciliation period, which can run up to 12 weeks, and a potential claim could still reach you the best part of a year after the event.
By then the evidence has moved on. Managers will not remember the meeting clearly. People involved may have left. Emails may be archived or deleted.
Tipping: Consult Before You Write the Policy
Tipping is the change employers most often overlook, because it reads as a hospitality footnote. The duty to hold a written tipping policy comes from section 27I of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It catches any business taking qualifying tips on more than an occasional and exceptional basis. Since October 2024 the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has also required tips to be passed to workers in full.
Section 14 of the new Act adds consultation. You must 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.
Reviews and the three-year clock
The first review must fall within three years of the day your policy was first made available. That period counts days falling before the new rule starts. A policy published in October 2024 therefore needs a consulted review by October 2027. A draft revised Code of Practice is due alongside, subject to parliamentary approval.
Other Employment Law Changes in October 2026
The rest of the October package matters mainly to unionised workplaces, the public sector and adult social care. One exception applies to everyone.
- A statement of trade union rights. Section 58 of the Act requires every employer 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 applies whether or not you recognise a union.
- Trade union access and representation. Stronger rights of access for unions, new rights for union representatives, and changes to the recognition process.
- Public sector outsourcing. A reinstated two-tier code for staff transferring out of the public sector.
- Adult social care pay. Regulations to establish the Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body in England.
What to Do Before October
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 the policy covers harassment by customers, clients and contractors. Give staff a clear route to report it.
- Train managers to the higher standard. They need to recognise third-party harassment and understand that they must act on it rather than smooth it over.
- Extend your record retention. Keep disciplinary, grievance and dismissal records well beyond six months. Check too that automatic email deletion is not quietly removing evidence you would need.
- Plan your tipping consultation. If you take tips, check 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 alongside your statement of particulars, ready to finalise once the regulations confirm the content.
How We Can Help
Most business owners want to handle this properly. What they lack is the time to track a phased Act across two years and turn it into their own paperwork. That is where we come in.
At Bespoke HR, we carry out harassment risk assessments and rewrite policies and handbooks to the new standard. We also deliver the manager training that makes an "all reasonable steps" defence credible. For clients who take tips, we can run the consultation and produce the policy and the written summary. We can also prepare your trade union statement and review your record keeping ahead of October. Whether you want a one-off review or ongoing HR support, our team does the work rather than handing you a checklist.
Final Thoughts
October is close enough to plan for and far enough away to prepare properly. 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 October becomes a date in the diary rather than a scramble.
Frequently Asked Questions
What employment law changes are coming in October 2026?
Several measures under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are due in October 2026, and four reach most businesses. The duty to prevent sexual harassment rises from "reasonable steps" to "all reasonable steps". Employers become liable for harassment of their employees by third parties such as customers and contractors. Employers who take tips must consult their workers on the tipping policy, and employment tribunal time limits look set to extend. The remaining measures cover trade union rights, public sector outsourcing and adult social care pay.
What does "all reasonable steps" mean for preventing sexual harassment?
It raises the standard an employer must meet. Under the current duty, a tribunal asks whether you took reasonable steps. From October 2026 it asks whether there was anything further you could reasonably have done and did not do. In practice that means a documented risk assessment, a policy that reflects it, training, and a record of reviewing and acting on what you found.
Are employers liable for harassment by customers or clients?
From October 2026, yes. Section 21 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 provides that an employer must not permit a third party to harass an employee. You are treated as permitting it where the harassment occurs in the course of employment and you failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent it. There is no requirement for previous incidents, so a single occasion is enough, and it covers all types of harassment rather than only sexual harassment.
Are employment tribunal time limits going up to six months?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 extends the period in which someone can submit most claims from three months less one day to six months. Acas expects this to take effect in October 2026, while the government's published timeline says "no earlier than October 2026", so nobody has yet confirmed the date. Employers should plan on the basis that a potential claim can now arrive considerably later than it would today.
What are the new tipping rules from October 2026?
Section 14 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 requires employers to consult their workers, or their representatives, before producing their first written tipping policy and again as part of every review, then make an anonymised summary of those views available to everyone at that place of business. Reviews must happen at least every three years, and the first falls due within three years of the day your policy was first made available, counting days before the new rule takes effect. An employer who issued a policy in October 2024 therefore needs a consulted review by around October 2027. A draft revised statutory Code of Practice on distributing tips fairly is due alongside, subject to parliamentary approval.
Which businesses do the tipping rules apply to?
The written policy duty catches any business taking qualifying tips, gratuities or service charges on more than an occasional and exceptional basis, so it reaches well beyond hospitality. Qualifying tips are those the employer receives, or those a worker receives where the employer exercises control or significant influence over them. The rules cover workers, so genuinely self-employed contractors are outside them.
Do employers have to tell staff they can join a trade union?
From October 2026, every employer must give each worker a written statement confirming they have the right to join a trade union, issued alongside the written statement of employment particulars. It applies whether or not you recognise a union, and whether or not any union is active in the business. A worker cannot bring a standalone claim about a missing statement, but where a tribunal upholds another claim it can increase the compensation awarded.
Do these changes apply to small businesses?
Yes. The harassment duties and the trade union statement apply to every employer regardless of how many people you 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.