The Employment Rights Act: what faith-based charities need to know as employers

Many faith-based organisations are employers, often small ones — a part-time administrator, a youth or community worker, a caretaker, a handful of staff alongside a body of volunteers. The Employment Rights Act 2025 matters to every one of them. It is the most significant change to employment law in a generation, and its provisions are being switched on in waves across 2026 and 2027. Some are already in force. This article sets out what has changed, what is coming, and the practical steps to take now. It is general information, not advice — employment law is detailed and fact-sensitive, so take proper HR or employment-law advice on your own situation.

One thing to note at the outset: unlike charity law (where the rules differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), employment law is largely UK-wide, so these changes apply to your staff wherever in the UK you are based.

What has already changed (from April 2026)

Several rights became "day one" rights or were strengthened in April 2026:

• Statutory Sick Pay from the first day. The old three-day waiting period is gone, and the lower earnings threshold no longer excludes the lowest-paid from SSP. In practice, more staff qualify, and they qualify sooner — a real, if modest, cost to budget for.
• Family leave from day one. Entitlements such as paternity and unpaid parental leave are now available from the start of employment, rather than after a qualifying period.
• Harassment disclosures protected. Disclosures about sexual harassment are now explicitly protected under whistleblowing law, so a worker who raises a concern has stronger protection from detriment.

What's coming next (from October 2026)

This is the change most worth preparing for, and it has a faith-setting dimension that's easy to miss:

• A strengthened duty to prevent sexual harassment. Employers will be required to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of staff — a higher bar than the existing duty.
• Liability for third-party harassment. Crucially, an employer can be liable where staff are harassed by third parties — not just colleagues, but the people an organisation comes into contact with: service users, congregation or community members, contractors, visitors. For an organisation whose staff work in a public place of worship or a busy community setting, this is a live risk to think through, not a theoretical one.

Taking "all reasonable steps" means having a clear anti-harassment policy, making it known, training those who manage people, and being able to show — with records — that you assessed the risks (including third-party ones) and acted on them.

What's coming later (2027)

Further measures are expected to follow, with implementation dates still being confirmed through regulations:

• Protection from unfair dismissal much earlier in employment — the qualifying period is being reduced from two years, with the change expected in 2027. This makes fair, well-documented processes important from early in someone's employment.
• Tighter rules on "fire and rehire" practices.
• New protections around zero-hours and casual work — rights to request guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of shifts, and compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice.

Because the exact commencement dates for the 2027 measures depend on regulations still to be made, treat them as direction-of-travel rather than fixed, and confirm the current position before you rely on a specific date.

Why this matters especially for faith-based organisations

• You may be a small employer with limited HR capacity. The administrative side — sick-pay processes, leave, harassment policies, record-keeping — falls on people who are already stretched. Getting simple systems in place now is easier than scrambling later.
• The employee / worker / volunteer line matters. These rights attach to employees and workers, not genuine volunteers — but the distinction is a legal one, not just a label. If you rely heavily on volunteers, it's worth being confident you've categorised people correctly.
• The third-party harassment duty fits your context. Organisations that welcome the public need to think honestly about how they protect staff — front-desk, community and outreach workers especially.
• Caring for staff is part of the mission, not a distraction from it. Much of this Act simply formalises what a good faith-based employer would want to do anyway. Seen that way, it's less a burden than a prompt to look after the people who serve your community. (Our note on staff and volunteer wellbeing sits alongside this.)

What to do now

• Review your contracts and policies — particularly sickness/SSP, family leave, and anti-harassment. Make sure they reflect the day-one rights already in force.
• Put a clear anti-harassment policy in place and communicate it, and train anyone who manages staff or volunteers.
• Risk-assess third-party harassment ahead of October 2026 — think about where and how staff interact with the public, and what reasonable steps you can take.
• Keep good records. For the new duties, being able to evidence what you did matters as much as doing it.
• Budget for the cost of day-one SSP and the wider administrative load, and factor it into your planning — this connects to payroll and pension auto-enrolment.
• Take advice when you're unsure. Employment issues are fact-sensitive, and early advice is far cheaper than a tribunal.

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This article is general information, not advice. Employment law is detailed, changing and fact-specific, and commencement dates for some measures are still being confirmed. Confirm the current position and take proper HR or employment-law advice on your own circumstances. If you'd like help making sure the finance and governance side of being a good employer is in order, talk to us.