Upcoming changes to employment rights to prepare for

Have you prepared for the changes coming in April?

Below is a summary of the employment changes scheduled to take effect in April 2026. Employers are encouraged to begin preparations promptly in anticipation of these updates.

Changes implemented by Employment Rights Act 2025

Family rights

• Paternity leave will become a day-one right, replacing the previous 26 weeks’ qualifying service requirement.
• Paternity leave will be able to follow shared parental leave, instead of needing to be taken beforehand.
• Ordinary unpaid parental leave will also become day-one right, replacing the previous 1-year qualifying service requirement.
• Bereaved partner’s paternity leave will be introduced which allows an employee to take up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave where a child’s primary carer has died within 52 weeks of the child’s birth or adoption.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

• SSP will become a day-one right, meaning it will be payable from the first day of sickness, eliminating the three-day waiting period.
  SSP will also become payable to all workers, regardless of their salary, as the Lower Earnings Limit will be removed.

Collective redundancy consultation

• If an employer fails to collectively consult when planning to make 20 or more employees redundant at one location within 90 days, the maximum protective award will increase from 90 to 180 days’ pay for each affected employee.

Whistleblowing

• Reporting sexual harassment will be specifically included in whistleblowing laws as a “qualifying disclosure”.

Trade unions

• The procedure for recognising a trade union will become easier, and a union can be officially recognised with only 2% of the relevant workforce as members.

Other key changes

• The National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage are set to increase as usual from 1 April 2026. These increases being:
  • National Living Wage (aged 21 years and over) rises to £12.71 per hour (up from £12.21);
  • Aged 18 to 20 years rate increases to £10.85 per hour (up from £10.00);
  • Aged 16 to 17 years rate increases to £8.00 per hour (up from £7.55); and
  • Apprentice rate increases to £8.00 per hour (up from £7.55).
• The flat rate of SSP will increase to £123.25 per week from 6 April 2026.
• Other family-related statutory pay will also increase as usual, including maternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care, and bereavement pay.
• Recommendations for changes to the Real Living Wage and London Living Wage have been made, with these adjustments likely to take effect by early May 2026.

What should employers do now?

Employers should review their policies and template contracts to ensure they are updated to reflect these changes.

If you require assistance or have any questions about how these reforms may affect your business, please get in touch with a member of the Employment team.