The Employment Rights Act needs an HR spokesperson, is it you?
The Employment Rights Act is changing what employers must do, and journalists are looking for HR voices who can explain it clearly. Few organisations have decided who that voice should be.
The Act is being brought in in stages. From 1 October 2026, for example, the time limit for most employment tribunal claims doubles from three months to six. Further changes are rolling out over the coming months and beyond, touching areas such as working rights, contracts and compliance duties.
Each stage generates its own cycle of stories. Employers want to know what they must change. Employees want to understand their rights. Journalists, from national titles to trade and business media, need people who can explain both.
That is an opening for HR leaders, but it rarely arrives by itself. The people quoted are usually those who are known, available and clear.
So it is worth asking some direct questions.
—Who in your organisation could explain the changes to a journalist in plain language?
—Do they have a view, not just a summary?
—Are they comfortable on the record, and prepared for a live interview?
—Do you have the approval and support to respond quickly?
If the answer is unclear, the conversation will go on without you, led by law firms, consultancies and whoever else is already visible.
Becoming that voice has benefits beyond the story itself. HR leaders who are visible build credibility with their own workforce, with prospective employees and with the wider business community. For HR consultancies and advisers, it is also one of the clearest ways to be found by the employers who need them.
It does not require a large programme. It requires a decision about who speaks, a few well-chosen subjects, and a steady, helpful approach to journalists who are already looking.
The rules will keep changing for some time. The question is whether your organisation is part of the conversation about them, or simply responding to it.
That is much of what we do at ACA. We build the groundwork so that when a story breaks, a client is already the obvious person to ask, and a journalist can rely on them to deliver.