Employment Rights Act 2025: Key Changes Taking Effect on 6 April 2026

With just two weeks to go until major employment law changes take effect on 6 April 2026, UK employers should be taking final steps to ensure they are prepared. The key changes include:

1. Reporting sexual harassment where it ‘has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur’ is to become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under the whistleblowing legislation. Changes to the law will mean employees, workers and agency workers (among others) reporting sexual harassment may have additional protections from any detriment or dismissal related to a disclosure.
2. Employees will have day-one rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. Currently, paternity leave requires an employee to have 26 weeks’ continuous service and unpaid parental leave requires one year’s continuous service, but that will change very soon. It is worth noting that the entitlement to statutory paternity pay still requires that an employee has 26 weeks’ continuous service.
3. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will become payable from the first day of sickness absence, with the removal of the current 3-day waiting period. In addition, eligibility is being widened with the removal of the lower earnings limit meaning more employees will qualify.

These changes will require careful planning and implementation. Employers should review pay practices, update policies and ensure managers are well-versed in the new rules.

Our Employment team is busy working with clients to review and update contracts, policies and procedures, train management and support wider teams with the impacts of these changes.

Further key changes in employment law will be taking place over the next few years as the Employment Rights Act is rolled out. For a full and detailed update on the Employment Rights Act, please email the marketing team.