As one of the country’s fastest‑growing industries, the UK life sciences sector is projected to need around 145,000 new and replacement roles over the next decade to maintain its global competitiveness.[1] With the sector continuing to face acute skills shortages, attracting international talent and managing existing employees will be critical to meeting this demand.
There are a number of upcoming legislative and policy changes relating to people management in the UK, including:
The Employment Rights Act 2025 and the wider Plan to Make Work Pay.
Changes to immigration policy, including increased skill thresholds for Skilled Workers and plans to expand eligibility for the Global Talent Visa.
This briefing summarises the latest implementation timeline for these changes, highlights the measures most relevant to the life sciences sector and sets out some practical next steps.
The Employment Rights Act 2025
As the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in a generation, the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) changes are substantial and wide-ranging. As a result, the reforms are deliberately phased, giving organisations time to plan for comprehensive changes affecting trade union law, family leave, sick pay, protective awards, dismissal rights and workplace equality duties.
For employers in the life sciences sector, where project‑driven timelines, technical skill scarcity and complex global operations are common, the new laws will require careful preparation by all employers throughout 2026 and 2027.
See ERA bitesize webinars – key actions for employers to download our ERA 2025 guide for key action points, register for our webinar series and access previous recordings. These cover key changes, timelines and what your business should be doing now to prepare and manage risk.
Unfair dismissal
After much debate in both houses, the ERA confirms that employees will receive unfair dismissal rights after six months of employment, rather than the two years currently in place. This change will come into effect on 1 January 2027, and effectively narrows the amount of time that employers have to consider whether employees are a good fit for the business.
As a result, employers may be more likely to dismiss employees earlier, rather than invest in their longer-term development or retention. This may have a particularly significant impact on the life sciences industry, given the skills shortage the sector already faces.
The current cap on tribunal awards for unfair dismissal will also be removed entirely. This is likely to add to the existing tribunal case backlog as more employees elect to escalate their disputes, encouraged by the possibility of a significant damages award. Employers should be aware of this change, particularly in connection with high earners, who previously would have been limited to £123,543 in compensation for unfair dismissal.
The current three-month time limit within which tribunal claims must be brought will be extended by the ERA to six months from October 2026. This extension, along with the anticipated subsequent increase in claims, is likely to significantly increase the average time between termination of employment and a final hearing in each case.
We are already experiencing delays of up to four years for some claims to reach a full hearing, and we expect this is unlikely to improve unless significant additional resources are allocated to the tribunal system.
Given these increasing timelines, employers should ensure that employee records (including related employer decision-making, factual information and witness evidence) are well-maintained both during employment and after termination. Employers should also be mindful that departing employees who will be needed as witnesses in future would ideally leave on good terms and remain in contact with the business.
Trade unions
The ERA significantly strengthens trade union access rights and simplifies the union recognition process. The introduction of electronic balloting will make the voting process required to authorise strikes and other industrial action more straightforward. Employees will receive enhanced protections from both dismissal and being subject to a detriment as a result of taking industrial action and, from October 2026, employers will have a duty to inform all workers and employees of their right to join a trade union.
We expect that workplaces will become increasingly unionized as a result of these developments. For life sciences organisations across manufacturing, supply chain and clinical settings, this is likely to lead to increased union activity, including more industrial action.
See ERA – New trade union right of access for more information and what steps employers should take.
Family friendly rights
The ERA also introduces a number of updates to family-friendly rights. With effect from 6 April 2026, employees are eligible for paternity and unpaid parental leave from day one of their employment, rather than 26 weeks (as was previously the case). In addition, bereaved partners’ paternity leave was introduced in April 2026, which allows for up to 52 weeks’ unpaid leave for a surviving father/partner where the child’s mother or primary adopter dies within a year of the child’s birth or adoption.
Sign up for our October Family friendly changes bitesize webinar here (a recording will also be available).
Sexual harassment
From October 2026, the duty to prevent sexual harassment will increase, requiring employers to take “all reasonable steps” (rather than simply “reasonable steps”) to prevent harassment. We anticipate this would include having appropriate policies in place, carrying out risk assessments for specific events, and providing compulsory training for all employees. However, guidance on what “reasonable steps” means in practice will not be finalised until 2027. The duty will also be extended to protect against third-party harassment, including conduct by customers, suppliers and other visitors to workplace premises.
Sign up here to watch our Changes to the duty to prevent sexual harassment bitesize webinar recording.
Immigration reforms
To make the UK more attractive to global talent, the government announced a £54m Global Talent fund and signalled plans to widen the eligibility criteria for the Global Talent Visa (GTV), which can offer a cheaper and faster route to settlement for leading researchers. However, as the current GTV criteria is still relatively narrow, most research and life sciences employers continue to rely heavily on the Skilled Worker sponsorship route.
At the same time, the cost and complexity of Skilled Worker sponsorship has increased significantly. Since 2024, the minimum salary thresholds have risen substantially, and recent increases to immigration fees (including the Immigration Skills Charge) mean that UK employers face much higher costs when recruiting international talent compared with competitor research nations. (If you'd like to know more about the March 2026 update to sponsor guidance, see Significant changes to sponsor guidance - what employers need to know.)
Further pressure arises from the increase in the required skill level for Skilled Worker sponsorship from “medium-skilled” to “highly-skilled” in July 2025, which rendered approximately 180 role categories ineligible for sponsorship. While some medium-skilled roles do remain eligible (including those on the relevant shortage occupation lists, such as laboratory technicians), these lists are due to be phased out by December 2026. In addition, restrictions on bringing dependants to the UK further reduce the appeal of the route for employees.
Alongside proposed increases to the qualifying period for settlement, organisations in the sector (including Cancer Research UK) have warned that these changes risk undermining the UK’s ability to attract and retain international scientific talent at a time of intensifying global competition.[2] Continued collaboration between the government and industry will therefore be essential to ensure the UK remains competitive and equipped to meet the sector’s evolving needs over the next decade.
What life sciences employers should do now:
Review probation and dismissal processes ahead of the 2027 changes.
Prepare for expanded union rights and access.
Strengthen harassment and whistleblowing frameworks.
Enhance supply‑chain compliance.
Update SSP, family leave and redundancy processes.
Review contracts, polices and templates to ensure that they comply with the new statutory rights.
Consider post termination restrictions in a more fluid employment market.
Conduct thorough assessments of your current sponsored workforce to ensure they will qualify for extensions and Indefinite Leave to Remain with the higher salary thresholds in place.
When assessing a new sponsorship, make sure that the role meets the skill and salary requirements.
Incorporate the rising costs of Skilled Worker sponsorship into future recruitment and workforce budgets.
Final thoughts
The ERA signals a decisive shift towards stronger worker protections, simpler union processes and enhanced enforcement. For life sciences employers, this will require co-ordinated planning across HR, employee relations, compliance and operational functions to maintain compliance without disrupting scientific, R&D or manufacturing operations.
With immigration sponsorship costs rising and eligibility criteria narrowing, employers in the sector should also monitor immigration developments closely and plan ahead to ensure they are well-positioned to recruit and retain high-demand international talent.
If you would like advice on how these changes may affect your organisation, or support in preparing for the upcoming reforms, please get in touch.
