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With significant changes to employment law on the horizon this year, we want to make sure all employers in our network feel prepared and supported. In partnership with leading employment law firm Birketts, we held a live discussion focusing on the first wave of changes taking effect in 2026.
With several key reforms due to take effect from 6 April, our Head of HR Division, Kate Headford, sat down with Employment Lawyer Sarah Bull to discuss how HR teams can start preparing for changes to day-one rights for paternity leave, unpaid parental leave, statutory sick pay (SSP) and redundancy protections:
Below is a practical checklist of areas HR teams should be reviewing now, ahead of the April changes, to reduce risk and avoid having to make last-minute policy updates.
Update your family-friendly policies
The Employment Rights Act makes paternity leave and unpaid parental leave “day one” rights for all employees. From April, employees will be entitled to these rights, removing the need for a qualifying period.
While the 26-week qualifying period for paternity pay remains unchanged, new regulations will introduce a day one right to paternity leave for employed parents of babies with an expected week of childbirth on or after 5 April 2026, born on or after 6 April 2026, or children placed for adoption on or after 6 April 2026. Parents will also be able to benefit from the day one right to take unpaid parental leave from 6 April onwards (Department for Business & Trade).
Action: HR teams will need to review and update their company’s family-friendly policies to reflect these changes and train line managers to ensure they understand how to manage leave requests in practice.
Amend your sickness absence policies and update payroll systems
The lower earnings limit is being removed to make statutory sick pay (SSP) available to all employees, regardless of weekly earnings. The rate of SSP will now be 80% of an employee’s earnings or the current flat rate – whichever is lower (Department for Work & Pensions).
By removing the waiting days from the SSP system and amending the period of incapacity for work, employees will now be entitled to SSP from their first full day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth. SSP enforcement and disputes will now be handled by the Fair Work Agency: a newly established enforcement body.
In practical terms, this means more employees will qualify for SSP, and payments will begin earlier than under the current framework. The Department for Work and Pensions believes that these changes will “support all employees to take the time off they need to recover by providing better financial security, whilst also limiting the costs to businesses and reducing the spread of infectious diseases.”
Action: Payroll teams should update their systems to remove the lower earnings limit and apply SSP from day one of absence. HR teams should also revise their sickness absence policies to align with the new ERA n and consider completing additional training on sickness management in the workplace. This can serve as a proactive measure to reduce staff sickness levels.
Prepare for collective redundancy changes
In April, the maximum protective award for breaches of collective consultation obligations is increasing from 90 to 180 days per employee (Department for Business & Trade). This significantly raises the cost (and ultimately the risk) of non-compliance, making early planning and manager awareness especially important where workforce changes are being considered this year.
Action: Senior managers should be trained on new legislation to ensure they are aware of changes ahead of any redundancy plans. Further changes to organisation-wide thresholds on redundancy are expected later this year, and we will keep you updated in due course.
Stay informed of strengthened harassment prevention
The Act introduces a strengthened responsibility for employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment (Department for Business & Trade). From April, sexual harassment will be added as a ‘qualifying disclosure’ for whistleblowing protection, providing employees with a further legal mechanism to pursue claims of sexual harassment. This change simply enhances existing legal protections, rather than introducing something completely new.
Action: HR teams should conduct audits to assess the risks of harassment and implement appropriate controls. Policies should be updated, and training provided for staff (especially managers) on the new protections, so that they feel confident in addressing harassment complaints. It’s important that your team keeps records of all actions taken to demonstrate compliance.
Revise your probation policies
As day-one rights expand, probation periods will no longer delay access to certain statutory protections. HR teams should therefore review probation policies and make updates to reflect the April ERA changes.
For further information and suggested actions around the changes expected this year, Birketts has shared a very useful Employment Rights Act 2025 summary table to help you create an implementation plan for your business, in line with the Government’s roadmap.
We’re continuing to work closely with industry experts to provide clarity to HR teams, helping them minimise disruption and maintain compliance. If you’re considering new hires over the coming months, our consultants can share market insights and practical considerations to support your planning. Please get in touch to request a callback.
