The Employment Rights Act 2025 is set to reform everything from employment contracts to sick pay and parental leave entitlements over the next two years, from April 2026.
SoGlos shares five things employers need to be prepared for, with advice from Gloucestershire-based employment law experts, Jenny Hawrot and Achante Anson, from Willans LLP solicitors.
Immediate updates to employment contracts and company policies
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces wide-reaching reforms to modernise worker protections, expand statutory entitlements and strengthen the collective rights of employees – with the first wave of major reforms, including changes to sick pay, paternity and parental leave, all coming into force in April 2026.
For employers, this means staying on top of company policies, record-keeping, systems and documentation to ensure compliance as changes take effect.
Statutory Sick Pay now applies from day one
The three-day waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) no longer applies, with SSP now payable from day one of an employee's sickness absence. The lower earnings limit has also been abolished, so more workers, including those in lower-paid roles, now qualify for SSP where they didn't previously.
Businesses need to ensure their budgeting forecasts account for this and update payroll systems and sickness absence policies to reflect this change, to ensure employees receive the pay they are now entitled to.
Parental and paternity leave from day one and new bereavement leave for partners
Previously, employees were only entitled to paternity leave after 26 weeks and unpaid parental leave after one year, but these qualifying periods have been abolished and both paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are now day one rights.
The entitlement applies to all babies born and all adoption placements beginning on or after Monday 6 April 2026, but eligible employees have been able to submit notice since February 2026 under transitional arrangements.
Bereaved fathers and partners can now take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother dies within the first year of a child's life, too.
Enhanced protections around redundancy
Businesses which fall short of their statutory consultation duties around redundancy now face significantly increased financial risks.
The maximum protective award for failures in collective redundancy consultation has doubled from 90 days' to 180 days' pay per affected employee, so ensuring these processes are watertight – and start early enough – has never been more important.
Trade union and industrial action reforms
Processes to achieve trade union recognition have been simplified and the notice to be given by trade unions to an employer before industrial action can be taken has been reduced.
There are a number of further measures still to come throughout the rest of this year and into 2027, including introducing easier pathways to union recognition, increasing the likelihood of union organising in historically non-unionised workplaces; simplifying statutory recognition processes, to make it easier for unions to obtain bargaining rights; reversing several previous legislative restrictions around strike procedures and picketing formalities; and strengthening protections for employees involved in industrial action, increasing the legal risks of disciplinary action or dismissal.
To find out how Willans LLP solicitors can help businesses adapt and respond to employment law changes, visit willans.co.uk/service/employment-business-immigration.
