Executive Snapshot

6 April 2026 saw the most significant wave of reforms to UK employment law since the Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2025 came into force in December, significantly expanding certain employee rights and increasing employer liabilities. This landmark legislation is being phased in through 2026–2027, meaning employers face a rolling adjustment of their risk profile rather than a one-time change. The initial April 2026 wave has already introduced day-one rights for family leave and statutory sick pay, as well as substantially higher penalties for redundancy consultation failures. Employers should now ensure that these changes have been fully implemented in practice.

Below is an overview of the key reforms that came into effect this month, and their practical implications for employers:

Day-One Family Leave Entitlements

Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are now available from an employee’s first day of employment, with no qualifying service required. Previously, these rights required 26 weeks or one year of service. All new hires therefore benefit from immediate family leave entitlements.

Statutory Sick Pay from Day One

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is now payable from the first day of illness, with no waiting period and no lower earnings threshold. This expansion makes SSP more accessible but increases employer costs, as every qualifying sick day must now be paid, including for day-one employees and low earners.

Higher Redundancy Penalties

The maximum protective award for failure to comply with collective redundancy consultation obligations has doubled from 90 to 180 days’ pay per affected employee. Consultation failures can now result in awards of up to six months’ pay per individual, significantly increasing the financial exposure associated with large-scale restructures.

Whistleblowing & Fair Work Agency

Disclosures of sexual harassment can now qualify as protected whistleblowing, meaning employees who raise such concerns are protected from retaliation. A new Fair Work Agency has also been launched to enforce workplace rights, signalling increased scrutiny and a strengthened enforcement environment.

These April 2026 reforms represent the most significant wave of ERA 2025 implementation to date. Further measures, including enhanced anti-harassment duties, restrictions on dismissal and re-engagement (“fire and rehire”), and wide-ranging unfair dismissal reforms, are scheduled to take effect later in 2026 and 2027.

Timeline & Key Dates

ERA 2025’s provisions will take effect in stages, with post-April changes all subject to final regulations and consultation outcomes:

Note: Several ancillary measures are also in motion. For example, the government is encouraging voluntary menopause and gender pay gap action plans for larger employers from April 2026. While these are not strict legal requirements, they signal the direction of travel. Employers should anticipate a more proactive enforcement environment and evolving best practices around equality, transparency and fair work.

Actionable Checklist: Preparing for 6 April 2026 and Beyond

With the 6 April 2026 reforms now in effect, employers should take immediate steps to ensure compliance and mitigate risk. Below is a checklist of urgent actions and short-term priorities:

• Update Policies and Contracts: Employers should remove any length-of-service requirements from family leave and sick pay policies to reflect day-one eligibility. Paternity and parental leave policies should no longer require 26 weeks’ or one year’s service, and SSP procedures should be updated to eliminate waiting days and the earnings threshold. Employee handbooks, HR systems and template contracts should be revised to ensure new hires receive accurate entitlements from day one.
• Train Managers and HR Teams: Employers should ensure that line managers and HR staff are trained on the new entitlements. All new employees will be immediately eligible for paternity leave, parental leave and SSP. Managers must be prepared to handle family leave requests from day one of employment and to apply SSP from the first day of sickness absence. Updated guidance should be provided on managing absences under the new SSP rules and specific workplace training around the new employer obligations to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment—and updating guidance for managers to highlight that complaints of sexual harassment may constitute a protected disclosure—will be important. Early training and clear communication will help prevent inadvertent errors.
• Audit and Adjust Payroll Systems: Employers should ensure payroll systems are updated for the April 2026 changes. SSP must now be paid from the first day of an employee’s sickness absence, without regard to previous waiting periods or earnings thresholds. Systems should be configured accordingly, and any automated communications (e.g. regarding eligibility for leave or sick pay) should be reviewed to ensure alignment with the new entitlements.
• Review Ongoing HR Practices: Employers should revisit dismissal and performance management procedures. While unfair dismissal rights will continue to require two years’ service until 2027, it is prudent to reinforce fair treatment from the outset of employment. Probationary period practices and early stage performance management should be reviewed to ensure they do not inadvertently breach new rights (e.g. rejecting a leave request due to short service is no longer permissible).
• Plan Workforce Changes Proactively: Employers anticipating significant workforce changes, including large-scale restructurings or contract changes, should plan carefully. Legal thresholds for collective consultation (i.e. 20 or more redundancies at one establishment) must be clearly understood and consistently met. Employers must prepare for and allow sufficient time for thorough consultation and consider voluntary exit or redeployment schemes to mitigate legal risk. Legal thresholds for collective consultation (i.e. 20 or more redundancies at one establishment) must be clearly understood and consistently met. In borderline cases, employers should err on the side of caution.

• Monitor Ongoing Developments: Employers should remain alert to further guidance and secondary legislation. The government continues to issue consultations regarding the proposed amendments and ERA 2025 empowers ministers to refine rules via regulations, including the anticipated introduction of a broader, company-wide redundancy consultation trigger (expected in 2027) and the finalisation of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Code of Practice on changing terms. Monitoring government and ACAS updates throughout 2026, and participating in industry consultations where possible, will help ensure employers are not caught off guard by last-minute clarifications or new obligations (e.g. thresholds for collective consultation or the criteria for invoking the “severe financial difficulty” exemption to the contract-change ban). With the April 2026 changes now in effect, ERA 2025 represents a decisive shift towards greater employee protection and higher compliance expectations in the workplace. Organisations that proactively update their policies, train their people and plan for longer lead times in managing workforce changes will be best positioned to absorb the impact of these reforms with minimal disruption. Continued vigilance and forward planning will be critical as further changes take effect through 2026 and 2027.

Learn more about how these changes impact UK employers by watching our LaborSpeak video on this topic.