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The much-debated Employment Rights Act 2025 finally passed in December 2025, and a number of employment law changes are expected over the next two years.
George Cokkinos, Solicitor in the Employment Law team, examines the changes due to come into force from April 2026.
Family friendly rights
The first change to come into effect is that paternity leave and ordinary parental leave will become a 'day-one right' from 6 April 2026, meaning employees no longer need a qualifying period of service to be eligible.
From 18 February 2026, eligible employees can give notice of their intention to take either leave — this reflects a temporary reduction in the usual notice period requirements.
Any new employees from 6 April 2026 will be able to give notice to take paternity leave or ordinary parental leave from the first day of employment.
In addition, the existing restriction on taking paternity leave only before shared parental leave will be removed, giving more flexibility on how leave is taken.
In conjunction with the Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave provisions, fathers and partners will also be entitled to take up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave within 52 weeks of their child's birth if their partner dies.
There will be further changes to family friendly employment rights in 2027 around maternity protections.
Sick pay
From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be payable from the first day of illness, rather than from the fourth day.
The lower earnings limit as a qualifying criterion for SSP will also be removed, meaning practically all employees and workers who are off sick will be eligible for sick pay regardless of how much they earn.
Whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment
Another major change is that reporting sexual harassment in the workplace will become a 'qualifying disclosure' for whistleblowing purposes.
In practice, this means that if an employee blows the whistle on sexual harassment, they will be protected from detrimental treatment and unfair dismissal under whistleblowing law.
Collective redundancy protective award
The maximum 'protective award' for employer failure to consult properly in a collective redundancy situation will increase from 90 days' pay to 180 days' pay.
Gender pay gap and menopause action plans
Employers will be encouraged on a voluntary basis to create action plans addressing the gender pay gap and menopause support from April 2026.
These are currently voluntary, but the government plans to make such reporting mandatory in 2027 for larger employers. We will provide further details on the specific commencement date once available.
Trade union recognition
The process for recognising trade unions in the workplace will be simplified, and an updated Code of Practice is expected to come into force from October 2026.
Fair Work Agency
The Fair Work Agency will be established from 7 April 2026 to consolidate enforcement functions currently spread across multiple bodies.
It will have powers to:
- Inspect workplaces and require production of relevant
documentation
- Enforce compliance with key employment rights including the
National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, SSP, and unlawful
deductions
- Issue notices for underpayments
- Act on behalf of employees and workers by bringing certain
cases before employment tribunals
The full roadmap of changes
The Employment Rights Act covers more areas of employer/employee relations than this in summary. If you'd like to see a full list of the planned changes on a timeline, please see our Employment Rights Act 2025 roadmap.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
