Key Employment Law Changes From April 2026 – Are You Ready?

Important employment law changes take effect from April 2026. Employers should act now to ensure they are prepared and compliant.

Employment Rights Act Changes

A number of changes will take effect from April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act.

For the latest updates, please visit our dedicated page.

Statutory Sick Pay

Changes on 6 April 2026:

• Removal of the Lower Earnings Limit
• SSP will be payable from day one of sickness absence. The Act abolishes the three waiting days
• SSP will be the lower of the prescribed weekly rate and the “prescribed percentage of employee’s normal weekly earnings”, which is to be set at 80%

Family Leave

Changes on 6 April 2026:

• Paternity leave becomes a “day-one right”
• The restriction on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave will be removed
• Eligible employees will be entitled to unpaid parental leave from day one
• Eligible employees will be able to take up to 52 weeks of unpaid Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave where the child’s primary carer dies before the child’s first birthday. Employees will be eligible from their first day of employment

Whistleblowing

Change on 6 April 2026:

• Sexual harassment will become a “qualifying disclosure” under whistleblowing law

Collective Redundancy

Changes on 6 April 2026:

• The maximum “protective award” for failure to consult will increase from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay

Equality Action Plan

Changes on 6 April 2026:

• Future regulations will require employers with 250 employees or more to develop and publish equality action plans, outlining steps to address gender equality, the gender pay gap, and support for employees through the menopause. These provisions will be voluntary from 6 April 2026 and mandatory from spring 2027
• Employers using the gender pay gap reporting service will have the option to publish a voluntary action plan alongside their data for the 2026–2027 reporting year
• Although aimed at large organisations, guidance applies to all employers, and those with fewer than 250 employees are encouraged to create action plans

Annual Leave Records*

Changes on 6 April:

Employers will need to keep adequate records to show whether they have complied with their obligations in relation to:

• Entitlement to annual leave
• Entitlement to additional annual leave
• Entitlement to annual leave of irregular hours and part-year workers
• Entitlement to pay for annual leave
• The requirement to make a payment in lieu of holiday outstanding on termination of employment, including any holiday carried forward from a previous leave year.
• The requirement to make a payment to irregular hours workers and part-year workers in lieu of holiday outstanding on termination of employment.

Records must be kept for six years from the date on which they were made.

Fair Work Agency

Changes on 7 April 2026:

• Establishment of the Fair Work Agency, a new single enforcement body responsible for enforcing certain employment rights, including holiday pay and statutory sick pay
• The timing of its full enforcement powers is not yet clear

National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

Changes to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) will take effect on 1 April 2026.

The new hourly rates are:

• Age 21 or over: £12.71
• Age 18-20: £10.85
• Age 16-17 and Apprentices: £8.00
• Accommodation Offset (daily): £11.10

Statutory Rate Changes

From 6 April 2026, the following weekly statutory rates will increase:

• Statutory Sick Pay: £123.25.
• Statutory Maternity, Adoption, Paternity, Shared Parental, Parental Bereavement Leave, Neonatal Care Pay: £194.32

Statutory Awards and Payments

For employment terminations on or after 6 April 2026:

• A "week's pay" (used to calculate statutory redundancy pay) will rise to £751
• The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase to £123,543.
  • (Note: The Employment Rights Act will remove the statutory cap on unfair dismissal compensatory awards from 1 January 2027.)

What's next?

Employers should implement these changes and consider taking the following steps:

• Update policies and review employment contracts
• Update HR systems and leave request procedures
• Train HR teams and managers on the new eligibility rules
• Implement relevant payroll action
• Review pension contributions where necessary
• Assess which employees may now fall within the scope of pension automatic enrolment, maternity pay, etc.
• Communicate any changes to employees

How can Tozers help?

Tozers can assist you in navigating these changes smoothly. Our team of experts are well-versed in employment law and can provide tailored advice to ensure compliance with the new regulations.

Contact our legal experts

How to stay in the know

As changes come in, we are monitoring developments closely and will share relevant insights here. You can view a full overview of the expected changes and an indication of when they will take effect here. If you are subscribed to our newsletter you will also receive notification via email. To make sure that you are receiving this information straight to your inbox, click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

*Updated as per latest announcement as at 27 March 2026