Employment Rights Act 2025: Consultation launched on collective consultation triggers

Ahead of the provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA 2025”) coming into force, the government has launched a new consultation seeking views on how new collective consultation triggers will work in practice. Below we look at the options being considered and what this could mean for employers.

What are the current triggers? 

Currently, an employer must consult if they are proposing to dismiss as redundant more than 20 employees, at one establishment, within 90 days. Where 20 - 99 redundancies are proposed the employer must consult for 30 days.  Where 100 or more redundancies are proposed the consultation period is 45 days. The employer must also notify the Secretary of State.

What will change under the ERA 2025? 

The ERA 2025 will require employers to undertake collective redundancy consultation and notification whenever they make a threshold number of redundancies across their entire organisation. This means that collective consultation and notification obligations will be triggered where the employer proposes:

• 20+ redundancies at one establishment, or
• the threshold test is met across the employer’s organisation.

The threshold number may be either:

• a specified number,
• a number defined by a specified percentage of employees, or 
• determined in another way specified in the regulations. 

However, it must not be lower than 20.

What is the consultation seeking views on?

The government has launched a consultation seeking views on the level and methods by which the new organisation-wide threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations might be set.

Two options are being considered:

• using a single fixed number in the range of 250 to 1,000,
• tiering this new obligation based on number of employees.

The government’s preferred method is to use a single fixed number within the range of 250 to 1,000 proposed redundancies. This is believed to be the easiest way to ensure that employers understand their obligations and employees and trade unions can be sure when the obligation to collectively consult has been triggered.

The government is also seeking views on how an employer would be required to calculate its total number of employees. Three options are being considered:

• The average total number of employees over a period of a specified number of months prior to a particular date.
• The total number of employees at the point when redundancies are proposed.
• The total number of employees on a regular basis (such as monthly, quarterly or annually) and have that number apply to redundancies made in the next month, quarter or year.

The consultation closes on 21 May 2026. The change to the collective consultation trigger is expected to come into force in 2027.

What do the changes mean for employers?

The introduction of an organisation-wide threshold number is potentially a big change for employers as undoubtedly it will mean that the obligation to consult at collective level is triggered more frequently. Equally, employers will also need to calculate the number of employees they have which could create additional administrative burdens. Employers may therefore wish to consider their current record keeping practices in anticipation of the changes (albeit the final position won’t be known until the outcome of the consultation).

Changes to collective consultation obligations are just one part of the significant reforms coming under the Employment Rights Act 2025. To understand the full picture - including what's already in force, what's coming in April 2026, and how to prepare - our expert employment lawyers will be speaking at our upcoming webinar.