Employment Rights Act changes: what insurance brokers should tell new businesses

Insurance brokers are being asked what the Employment Rights Act means for new employers. This guide is cautious on purpose. Our source check could only partly read two GOV.UK pages, and neither page, in the parts we read, confirmed a new harassment duty or a longer tribunal window. So we do not state the details of either here. Check them yourself before you quote them to a client.

What we can confirm from the sources

The Department for Business and Trade timeline update says the reforms, including those introduced through the Employment Rights Act 2025, are being delivered in phases. It also says all future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes and may change. You can read it on GOV.UK.

The page lists measures already in force. Some took effect at Royal Assent in December 2025, such as the repeal of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. Others took effect on 18 February 2026, including the repeal of the great majority of the Trade Union Act 2016.

The October 2026 employer bulletin on GOV.UK lists an item called "Harassment protections, new Acas and EHRC guidance". We have not read its text. We cannot tell you what the duty is, who it covers or when it applies.

What we could not confirm

• The wording and start date of any harassment duty.
• Any change to the tribunal claim window, and its date.
• Anything linking these changes to employment practices liability or legal expenses policies.

Read the harassment item in the bulletin and the rest of the timetable section in the timeline before you write to clients. Dates may also change.

Why it matters for your conversations

You do not need the final detail to ask good questions. Any change in employer duties or claim timing can touch the cover a new employer holds. Employment practices liability and legal expenses policies are where it shows up. Once you have verified the rules, check three things in the policy wording:

• Does cover respond to harassment allegations, and on what basis?
• How long after an incident can a claim be notified, and does that fit any new claim window?
• Does legal expenses cover include employment disputes, and what are the limits and exclusions?

Do not tell a client their policy is or is not affected until you have read the wording and the verified rules. Where unsure, say so and come back with an answer.

New food premises as a worked example

Food businesses are a useful example because they hire quickly and often have young or part-time staff. Firstfile matched public registers to the Companies House register. Of companies incorporated in the 60 days to 27 October 2026, 72 matched a food premises awaiting its first hygiene inspection (Firstfile's matching of public registers to the Companies House register).

A new café owner is focused on opening day, not policy wording. You can ask: who will you hire, who handles complaints, and does your cover know you have staff? That is a plain conversation, and it does not depend on legal detail you have not checked.

The size of the new-company pool

From 20 to 26 October 2026, 15,139 new UK companies were incorporated. 36.2% were shells, holding companies or formation-agent registrations. That left 9,664 after removing the noise. All three figures are from Firstfile's count of the Companies House register.

Of those, 6,577 scored 60 or more for insurance brokers (Firstfile's count of the Companies House register, 20 to 26 October 2026). Many will have no staff yet. The ones that do are where employment cover matters. Our page for insurance brokers explains how the scoring works, and our data sources page shows where the data comes from.

One more point for outreach: 89% of the new companies we checked had no website we could find (same count and dates). A phone call or letter may reach a new owner sooner than a web search will.

What to do this week

1. Read the harassment item in the October 2026 employer bulletin and the timetable section of the DBT timeline in full.
2. Note the verified start dates and any claim window change, with the source link.
3. Pull the employment practices and legal expenses wordings you place most often. Check the notification terms and harassment wording.
4. Write three plain questions for new employers about staff, complaints and notification of claims.
5. Pick one sector, such as new food premises, and offer a short call to each new owner.

More practical material is in our guides.