The Employment Rights Act 2025 – Why robust vetting and pre-employment checks matter more than ever

With the introduction of the Employment Rights Act 2025, UK employers are facing significant changes to hiring, compliance, and employee protections. One area becoming increasingly critical is staff vetting and pre-employment checks.

The true cost of a bad hire has been well debated and well publicised in the UK for several years – studies suggest that the real cost can be anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times the employee’s annual salary. Hefty!

Combine this with the largest shake up to employment law in decades, in the form of the Government’s landmark Employment Rights Act 2025, having confidence in your vetting and pre-employment checks and processes becomes even more crucial.

All of our HR colleagues will now have digested the headline changes that are on the horizon. Significant  changes, including Trade Union Reforms, Collective Redundancy Rights, Fire and Rehire Practice Reform, ‘Exploitative’ zero-hours contracts being banned, and not least the changes to Statutory Sick Pay.

Today,  Staffvetting.com looks at how the Employment Rights Act 2025 impacts staff vetting and pre-employment checks, and how they become an even greater part of the recruitment journey.

1. The 6-Month Unfair Dismissal Rule: Hiring Right, or Paying the Price

One of the most significant changes for employers is the drastic reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims – moving from 2 years, to just 6 months.

Whilst this change is not expected to be implemented until January 2027, it promises to have a significant impact on the recruitment process – not least probationary periods.

Confidence in a candidate’s skills, experience, qualifications and suitability for the role becomes even more important. While robust pre-employment checks form just one part of the process, they are nonetheless essential.

Staffvetting.com would suggest mitigation via enhanced referencing, qualification verifications, and professional background checks, which could heavily mitigate early-stage risk.

Discover how enhanced referencing and background checks can reduce early-stage hiring risk here.

2. Parity for flexible and zero-hours contracts

For industries heavily reliant on flexible labour – including hospitality and logistics – there is likely to be a significant increase in the volume and complexity of compliance checks.

‘Gig workers’ or those on flexible arrangements will now have to meet the same compliance standards as those of full-time employees. This, combined with existing penalties for non-compliance, significantly increases the importance of robust vetting processes.

Staffvetting.com advises that the streamlined use of Document Validation Technology (IDVT) is an effective way to manage a surge in recruitment vetting requirements.

Find out how IDVT can help you scale your vetting processes with speed and accuracy.

3. The ‘Fair Work Agency’

The clue is in the name, right? A new body, called The Fair Work Agency, will be established in April 2026 to enforce holiday pay, the National Minimum Wage, and Statutory Sick pay,

The remit of the Agency is still being discussed, with a potential expansion of its powers in the future.

Our advice would be to ensure consistent audit trails of all employee activity, from advertising to deployment.

While these changes offer clear benefits to employees across the UK, particularly in protecting against exploitative practices, they also introduce new challenges for employers.

Robust recruitment procedures are more important than ever, making vetting and pre-employment checks an organisation’s new best friend.

Call 0191 588 7980 or email info@staffvetting.com to speak with our vetting experts.