UK Employment Status Shake-Up Proposed: Key Details for Employers

Amidst the significant focus on headline reforms in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), such as new trade union access rights and uncapped unfair dismissal protections after six months, the Government’s proposals on worker status have received comparatively less attention.

Initial indications were radical, but vague: a potential consolidation of the familiar three-tier system (employee, ‘limb (b)’ worker, self-employed) into a single ‘worker’ status would have been a landmark shift. The Government’s new consultation, launched on 14 October 2026 (Make Work Pay: employment status reform and protections for the self-employed), now provides a clearer picture of the specific changes proposed.

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