Employment Rights Act 2025 - What Changed on 6 April 2026?
After a protracted period of parliamentary back and forth, the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Since then, employers have been navigating a phased rollout of reforms, and 6 April 2026 marked the arrival of the first major wave of changes.
The ERA amounts to the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in more than a decade, affecting statutory rights, family leave, redundancy obligations, enforcement mechanisms, and tribunal litigation dynamics.
Below, we set out the key changes that came into force on 6 April 2026 and what they mean in practice for your business.
What Changed on 6 April 2026?
Statutory Sick Pay
The ERA introduced two significant changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP):
- The three-day waiting period has been abolished. SSP is now payable from the first day of sickness absence, removing the previous rule under which the first three days of absence were unpaid.
- The lower earnings limit has been removed. Eligibility for SSP is no longer dependent on earnings. Employees who earn below the previous lower earnings limit threshold will receive SSP at the lower of the statutory flat rate (£123.25 per week from 6 April 2026) and 80 per cent of their average weekly earnings.
What does this mean in practice? These changes will increase SSP costs for many employers, particularly those with lower-paid or part-time workforces. Payroll systems and sickness absence policies should be reviewed and updated without delay.
Day-One Rights: Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave
Prior to 6 April 2026, employees needed 26 weeks of continuous service to qualify for statutory paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. Both entitlements are now day-one rights, available from the first day of employment, regardless of length of service.
Additionally, from 6 April 2026, employees are permitted to take paternity leave after a period of shared parental leave. Previously, paternity leave had to be taken before shared parental leave commenced.
What does this mean in practice? Employers should anticipate an increase in requests for paternity and parental leave, particularly from newer employees. Family leave policies and HR processes will need to be updated to reflect the removal of the qualifying period.
Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave
A new statutory entitlement has been introduced for bereaved partners. Where a child’s mother or primary adopter dies in connection with childbirth on or after 6 April 2026, the surviving partner is entitled to take up to 52 weeks of unpaid Bereaved Partners’ Paternity Leave. This is a day-one right, available regardless of length of service, and must be taken as a single continuous period within 52 weeks of the child’s birth or adoption placement.
What does this mean in practice? This is a compassionate and significant new right. Employers should ensure that their bereavement and family leave policies are updated to cover this entitlement, and that managers are briefed on how to handle such requests with appropriate care and sensitivity.
Collective Redundancy: Increased Protective Award
Where an employer fails to comply with its collective redundancy consultation obligations, the maximum protective award that an Employment Tribunal can order has doubled, from 90 days’ gross pay to 180 days’ gross pay per affected employee. This applies to dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026.
It is worth noting that if a tribunal also finds a failure to comply with the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement, a further 25 per cent uplift can be applied on top of the protective award.
What does this mean in practice? For any business considering a redundancy programme involving 20 or more employees at one establishment within a 90-day period, the financial exposure from non-compliance has increased substantially. Employers must ensure that collective consultation processes are robust, well-documented, and legally sound.
Whistleblowing: Sexual Harassment as a Protected Disclosure
From 6 April 2026, a disclosure relating to sexual harassment in the workplace qualifies as a protected disclosure under whistleblowing law. Employees who report sexual harassment are now protected from detriment and automatic unfair dismissal as a result of making that disclosure.
What does this mean in practice? Whistleblowing policies should be reviewed and updated to expressly include sexual harassment as a category of qualifying disclosure. Training for managers and HR professionals on how to handle such disclosures appropriately is strongly advisable.
Holiday Records: New Record-Keeping Obligation
From 6 April 2026, employers are legally required to maintain adequate records of employees’ annual leave entitlements and holiday pay, and to retain those records for six years. Failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable by a fine.
What does this mean in practice? This obligation arrived with relatively little advance notice. Employers should audit their current HR and payroll systems to ensure they are capable of capturing and retaining the required information for the full six-year retention period.
Trade Union Recognition: A Simpler Process
The statutory recognition process has been reformed to make it easier for trade unions to obtain recognition from employers. The requirement for a union to demonstrate likely majority support before applying to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) has been removed. Where a ballot is held, recognition is now decided by a simple majority of votes cast, the previous threshold requiring at least 40 per cent of the entire bargaining unit to vote in favour no longer applies.
What does this mean in practice? Employers should familiarise themselves with the updated recognition framework. Businesses that have not previously engaged with trade union issues may find this a more relevant consideration going forward.
The Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) became operational on 7 April 2026. The FWA consolidates enforcement of a range of employment rights, including the National Minimum Wage, holiday pay entitlements, and agency worker protections, under a single statutory body. The FWA has significant powers, including the ability to conduct workplace inspections and investigate non-compliance.
What does this mean in practice?
While the FWA is in its early stages of operation, its establishment signals a more coordinated and proactive approach to employment rights enforcement. Employers should ensure that their records and compliance processes are in good order.
Equality Action Plans
Large employers, those with 250 or more employees, are now able to publish voluntary equality action plans from 6 April 2026, setting out their approach to addressing the gender pay gap and supporting employees through the menopause. These plans will become mandatory in 2027.
What does this mean in practice? Employers who begin this process now will be better placed to develop a meaningful and considered plan, rather than reacting under pressure to a mandatory deadline.
What Comes Next?
The 6 April changes are only the beginning. Further reforms under the ERA are expected to come into force from October 2026 and into 2027, including:
- An increase in employment tribunal time limits from three months to six months for most claims
- Expanded trade union access rights and new duties to inform workers of their right to join a union
- Further changes to unfair dismissal rules, including a reduced qualifying period and reforms to fire-and-rehire practices (expected from 1 January 2027)
- Mandatory equality action plans for large employers
- Changes to the collective redundancy consultation threshold to include redundancies across an entire organisation, not just a single establishment
Stay Tuned: These further reforms are being introduced in phased stages and several measures remain subject to ongoing consultation. We will continue to update you as implementation dates are confirmed and further guidance is published.
Prepare: Review your current employment policies and procedures, in particular those relating to sickness absence, family leave, redundancy, whistleblowing, and holiday records, and consider the financial and operational impact of the new obligations.
Take Advice: If you require advice on how these changes affect your business or would like support preparing for implementation, please contact [email protected] who can put you in touch with one of our specialist lawyers. or complete our online enquiry form. Our specialist employment lawyers advise businesses of all sizes from our offices in Bournemouth, Poole, London, Salisbury, Southampton, and Winchester.
