The Employment Rights Act 2025 marks a new era for UK employment law, with far reaching implications for HR professionals and businesses. The timetable for reforms has been set out by the Government and will be introduced gradually during the course of 2026 – 27 to allow businesses time to prepare for the changes. This article looks at six key changes coming into force in April 2026 and how HR teams can prepare.
On 18 December 2025, the Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025. The Government has reiterated that it remains committed to the implementation timelines set out in the Roadmap (published in July 2025). Common commencement dates for the majority of regulations will be 6 April and 1 October but note that the reduction in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from two years to six months and removal of the unfair dismissal compensation cap will take effect from 1 January 2027.
Here, we take a look at the key employment changes coming into force in April 2026.
Changes to parental leave coming into effect on 6 April 2026 are:
For anyone who will gain the right to parental or paternity leave on or after 6 April 2026, but who does not yet have the necessary length of service to qualify, they will be able to give notice from 18 February 2026.
How to prepare: Update policies now and consider any enhanced paternity leave provisions which need to be amended.
From 6 April 2026 the three-day waiting period and the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be removed. Under the new system, employees on low wages who are unable to work due to sickness will either receive 80% of their normal weekly earnings or the current rate of SSP (£118.75 from April 2025), whichever is lower.
Separately, following recommendations from the Low Pay Commission, new minimum wage rates will be implemented from 6 April 2026:
Statutory Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Pay will increase to £194.32 per week (up from £187.18).
How to prepare: Update payroll for new minimum wage/statutory rates. Ensure compliance with the new measures for SSP and for statutory payments and National Minimum Wage (NMW) as the Fair Work Agency will have new powers to enforce non-payment or incorrect payment of any statutory payment including SSP and NMW, see below.
From 6 April 2026, the maximum period of the protective award is set to double meaning that whenever an employer fails to fulfil their collective redundancy obligations and a complaint is made, an Employment Tribunal will be able to award up to 180 days’ pay against the employer instead of the current maximum of 90 days.
How to prepare: This is a significant increase in the cost of non-compliance for employers and will need to be factored into any restructuring plans. The government acknowledges that the collective consultation framework is complex making it difficult to ensure compliance. Government guidance on collective consultation obligations is expected “in due course”. Employers will need to familiarise themselves with the guidance once it is published.
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will be established in April 2026 bringing together existing enforcement bodies and taking on the enforcement of other employment rights, such as holiday pay and statutory sick pay. The Government is abolishing the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, although their work will carry on under the FWA. See our article for more information here.
It is not yet clear when the FWA’s enforcement powers will come into force. The Government will set out further details including timescales for implementation, in due course.
How to prepare: While it is not yet clear when the enforcement powers will come into force, employers should consider conducting a thorough compliance check ahead of the FWA becoming operational. Two areas of particular focus in the FWA’s initial enforcement strategy are likely to be non-payment or underpayment of holiday pay and national minimum wage. Review contracts, policies and procedures, to ensure compliance with holiday pay requirements, remind workers to use their holiday entitlement and ensure staff are given enough opportunity to take it. Ensure systems for checking NMW compliance are fit for purpose.
From 6 April 2026 sexual harassment will be added to the list of relevant failures that can form the subject-matter of a “whistleblowing disclosure” i.e. a protected disclosure. The change means that workers will not need to identify an existing legal obligation, criminal offence or breach of health and safety to make a qualifying disclosure about sexual harassment, provided that they have complied with the other requirements in the legislation, such as holding a reasonable belief that the issue is in the public interest.
How to prepare: Update any whistleblowing policies and train managers and staff to ensure compliance with this new whistleblowing protection coming into force in April 2026.
Separately, the Employment Rights Act 2025 includes a new measure which will make void any provision in an agreement between an employer and a worker which tries to prevent the worker making an allegation or disclosure about harassment or discrimination. It also includes disclosures about how the employer responds to such an allegation or disclosure. The Act provides that an “excepted agreement” would be outside the scope of the new provisions. A recently published impact assessment looking at the new provisions now indicates that a confidentiality clause or non-disclosure agreement requested by a worker may be outside the scope of the new provisions.
The Government has not yet indicated when this new protection is expected to come into force.
Trade union reforms are among the key measures set out in the Employment Rights Act 2025. Key changes are coming into force on 6 April 2025. In particular:
Further changes coming into force on 18 February 2026 include:
How to prepare: All employers need to be aware of how the trade union reforms could impact their businesses, not just those who recognise trade unions already. The Government is simplifying the process for trade unions to apply for recognition in workplaces in April ahead of reforms coming into force in October 2026 which will give any trade union with a certificate of independence the right to apply for access to any workplace, including businesses with no recognised trade union.
Now is the time for employers to review employee engagement strategies, to consider establishing employee forums if none exist and to engage early with employee representatives to discuss the changes and to strengthen relationships and communication pathways.
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