Ushering in what the government describes as 'the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation', the Employment Rights Act will start to have a significant and wide-ranging impact on businesses from April 2026 – and now is the time to take action.

Contributors: Clive Day and Cory Doran

Following on from changes to trade union legislation in December 2025 and February 2026, the first major reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are set to take effect in April.

Just some of the notable changes include:

 
1 April 2026

  •  Higher National Minimum Wage rates.

5 April 2026

  • Enhanced parental and bereavement entitlement.

5-6 April 2026 

  • Day-one unpaid parental and paternity leave rights.

6 April 2026

  • Expanded eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay.
  • Stronger whistleblowing protections with the addition of sexual harassment as a protected disclosure. 
  • Doubling the protective award for failing to collectively consult on mass redundancies from 90 to 180 days’ pay. 
  • Streamlined trade union recognition. 
  • Provision for large employers to implement voluntary equality action plans ahead of them becoming mandatory in 2027.
  • Increase to the maximum compensation the employment tribunal can award for unfair dismissal claims (with the cap to be removed entirely from 1 January 2027).

7 April 2026

  • The establishment of the Fair Work Agency, which is set to reshape employer duties and workers’ rights.

For details of the full timeline, click here.

How could the changes impact your business?

To ensure compliance with the new legislation, businesses should update their payroll to accommodate the new Statutory Sick Pay rates, along with revising their sickness, parental leave, whistleblowing and harassment policies. 

HR processes must also be updated to reflect the new day-one rights and notice rules, and large-scale restructures should be navigated carefully to mitigate the higher level of risk posed by the increased protective award. 

Unionised workplaces should prepare for easier recognition and greater access rights, while employers with more than 250 staff should begin collecting data to facilitate equality action planning ahead of mandatory reporting in 2027.

What action should you take?

Alongside ensuring compliance with April’s changes, employers should also start laying the groundwork for the next set of reforms taking effect from October into 2027. Key steps include updating policies, contracts and payroll in readiness for new family-friendly rights, training managers on upcoming entitlements, and beginning equality action plan work early to plug compliance gaps and mitigate financial risk.

Key takeaways

  • Familiarise yourself with April’s reforms.
  • Start planning for upcoming changes in October and 2027.
  • Update your key policies and procedures.