UK employment rights, in plain English
Clear guides to pay, leave, contracts, dismissal and discrimination. Each one is dated, written for people rather than lawyers, and linked to the law it rests on.
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Time away does not make your work worth less. Check what you are owed, which rights depend on your status, and how to challenge an unpaid or discriminatory scheme.
A workplace ban can be lawful. That does not settle whether a warning or dismissal is fair. Here is how to check the rule, protect your job and challenge the decision.
Your sector usually changes how pay is negotiated, not your right to organise. Your employment status and where you work can change the legal protection.
Your employer can usually require cyber training. That does not let them ignore your pay, rest or access needs. Check the hours and costs before you refuse.
A former employer can explain a dismissal in a fair reference. That is not permission to gossip, invent allegations or punish you for speaking up.
Calculators
2026–27 reform tracker
Many three-month limits became six months where the relevant date is on or after today. Earlier events do not acquire extra time.
Stronger harassment prevention and third-party protections, union access and representative rights are due to start.
The qualifying period falls to six months and the ordinary compensatory-award cap disappears for dismissals with an effective termination date from this day. Fire-and-rehire protections and…
The government plans a day-one right for employees in Great Britain to take up to two weeks of unpaid leave for specified family bereavements and pregnancy…
Drawn from the reform tracker, which gives each change its date, who it affects and the source.
How we work
Every guide shows when it was last reviewed, and figures carry the date they took effect.
Claims link to legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK, Acas or nidirect, with a sources list at the foot.
Worked examples for money and time, and a clear line between what is in force and what is coming.
