Employment Rights Act – first wave of reforms

From 6 April 2026, various changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 were implemented, including: 

• expanded Statutory Sick Pay eligibility; 
• day-one rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave,
• a doubling of the protective award for collective redundancy failures, 
• new whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment; 
• The Fair Work Agency. 

In addition, the government has published guidance on voluntary gender pay gap and menopause action plans for employers with 250 or more employees, ahead of these becoming mandatory in 2027.

Various Consultations have closed and some are still underway and the new employment tribunal procedure rules came into force on 2 March 2026, reducing the time to request written reasons from 28 to 14 days.

What does this mean for employers?

The changes affect employers of all sizes and across every sector, so every business should ensure that they are now implementing the following: 

1. Statutory Sick Pay will be available to more employees. The lower earnings limit (currently £125 per week) has been removed entirely, and the three-day waiting period before SSP kicks in has been abolished. This means all workers are eligible from their first day of illness. 
   ACTION: Employers should update their absence policies and payroll systems now.
2. Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave both became day-one rights, removing the previous service requirements. A new Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave also comes into effect, allowing a bereaved father or partner up to 52 weeks of leave if the child’s mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life. 
   ACTION: update policies and providing training to ensure managers are aware. 
3. Whistleblowing protections are strengthened so that workers who report sexual harassment will have specific whistleblower protections. 
   ACTION: Employers should review their whistleblowing policies to reflect this addition and ensure training is provided where required.
4. Redundancy: The maximum protective award for failing to consult properly on collective redundancies doubles from 90 to 180 days’ gross pay per affected employee. This is a significant increase in the financial exposure for employers who get collective redundancy consultation wrong.
   ACTION: Early advice is important when dealing with large scale redundancy exercises and ensure HR teams are aware of the changes. 
5. The Fair Work Agency Opens. On 7 April 2026, the Government’s new Fair Work Agency began operations. This brings together enforcement functions previously split between HMRC (for the National Minimum Wage), the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.
   
   The Agency will have powers to investigate employers suspected of non-compliance, conduct workplace inspections, issue civil penalties, and bring proceedings on workers’ behalf. Its remit will expand over time to cover holiday pay and Statutory Sick Pay enforcement. Employees can report problems directly to them: Fair Work Agency - GOV.UK
   
   For employers who already comply with employment law, the Agency should bring clearer access to guidance and support. For those who do not, the enforcement environment is about to become more coordinated and more robust. ACTION: Review pay practices, holiday pay calculations, and record-keeping to ensure all in order.
6. Gender Pay Gap and Menopause Action Plans
   The government has published guidance for employers on creating action plans to reduce the gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause. From April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees can voluntarily publish an action plan alongside their gender pay gap data. These plans are expected to become mandatory from spring 2027.
   
   The guidance encourages employers to analyse their data, identify the causes of any gender pay gap, engage with employees, and set out measurable steps. The action plan section of the gender pay gap reporting service will go live after the 2026 reporting deadlines. Even smaller employers may find the guidance useful as a framework for good practice. ACTION: review requirements for your specific business. 
7. Government Consultations: There are various consultations are running in parallel, each tied to specific changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Employers who want to shape how these reforms work in practice should consider responding before the closing dates - Make Work Pay - GOV.UK

• Flexible working: the government is consulting on a new process employers must follow if they intend to refuse a flexible working request. This includes a proposed requirement to meet with the employee and communicate the outcome in writing. The consultation closes on 30 April 2026.
• Fire and rehire: a consultation seeks views on strengthening protections for employees whose employers seek to dismiss and re-engage them on less favourable terms. The fire and rehire restrictions are expected to come into force in January 2027. 
• Collective redundancy threshold: currently, collective consultation is required only where 20 or more redundancies are proposed at a single establishment. The government proposes adding an organisation-wide threshold, so that employers making large numbers of redundancies across multiple sites would also need to consult collectively. The preferred method is a single fixed number of proposed redundancies, somewhere between 250 and 1,000, across the organisation. The consultation closes on 21 May 2026, with regulations expected in 2027.

The noise about this being the largest set of employment reforms in a generation is not understating the impact of these combined changes – if you are confused about how they apply to your business or if you have any specific questions, please get in touch with our employment team – if we can help, we will.