On the 18th December, the Employment Rights Bill completed its passage through parliament and became the Employment Rights Act 2025.
While the breadth of the proposed reform may seem daunting at first glance, the good news for employers is that implementation of the Act will take place at various stages throughout the following 12 to 18 months, allowing time to prepare and make adjustments in a considered way.
So what’s first?
Some of the earliest provisions relate to Industrial Action, two major changes that will affect all employers from April 2026 relate to Statutory Sick Pay and Paternity and Parental Leave.
What’s changing?
Statutory Sick Pay
From 6 April 2026, employees and workers will become eligible for Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness absence, meaning no more waiting days. Alongside this, the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay will be removed, meaning individuals who previously didn’t qualify for Statutory Sick Pay due to their earnings will now be entitled to receive it.
Statutory Sick Pay will be paid at the lower rate of 80% of their normal earnings, or the statutory flat-rate, whichever is the lower of the two.
Family-friendly leave
On the family-friendly leave entitlements, paternity leave will be brought into line with maternity and adoption leave, becoming a day one right and removing the 26 week qualifying period for leave. As is already the case with maternity and adoption leave, the qualifying period for Statutory Paternity Pay remains unchanged.
The qualifying period to take unpaid ordinary parental leave will also be removed, making this a day one right.
What does this mean for employers in practice?
With more workers being brought into scope for statutory entitlements and eligibility arising earlier, it will be increasingly important for employers to ensure their processes are clear, consistent and well communicated. A few practical steps to consider ahead of April 2026 include:
- Review sickness absence reporting arrangements. With Statutory Sick Pay applying from day one, knowing where someone is absent through sickness will be more important than ever.
- Revisit your absence recording processes. Accurate recording of sickness absence periods will help ensure that workers receive the correct entitlements and reduce the risk of errors.
- Update contracts, handbooks and policies, removing any reference to Statutory Sick Pay waiting days and the lower earnings limits, and ensuring that your family-friendly policies are updated to reflect the removal of qualifying periods for paternity and parental leave.
- Communicate! Advising your employees and workers of these upcoming changes helps manage expectations and ensures that any new procedures are followed.
