Employment law changes in April 2026: What you need to know

An overview of the key employment law changes coming in April 2026 - and what employers need to know to stay compliant.

Colleagues reading and discussing legal updates

Employment law

Published: 31 March 2026•7 minutes read

Employment law in 2026 is set to undergo one of the most significant rounds of legislative reform seen in many years. The scale and scope of the upcoming changes - driven by the Employment Rights Act 2025 - mean that organisations of all sizes will need to take a more proactive approach to reviewing policies, updating procedures, and ensuring compliance.

Our employment law experts recently hosted a free webinar exploring the upcoming legislative changes, including a live Q&A. The recording is now available here.

Read on to learn what these changes mean for employers and how your business can begin preparing.

April 2026 changes

Day-one rights to paternity and parental leave

Entitlement to both paternity and parental leave will no longer depend on an employee having accrued a specific period of qualifying service - employees will be entitled to these rights from their first day of employment. Please note - as of 18th February 2026, employees who don't yet have qualifying service for paternity leave can notify employers of their baby's due date with only 28 days' notice instead of the usual 15 weeks.

Ability to take paternity leave following shared parental leave

The restriction preventing employees from taking paternity leave following shared parental leave will be removed.

Bereaved partner’s paternity leave

Eligible employees will have a day one right to take leave if the child’s primary carer dies within 52 weeks of the child’s birth or adoption placement, and they have a qualifying relationship with the child or the primary carer.

Employees can take one period of leave, which must be taken within the first 52 weeks following the birth or placement.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) - removing previous barriers to entitlement

SSP will become payable from day one of sickness absence (employees will no longer be required to serve three waiting days before SSP becomes payable). In addition to this, the lower earnings limit that determined whether an employee was eligible to receive SSP will no longer apply. All employees, regardless of how much they earn, will be entitled to SSP from the first day of absence.

SSP will be paid at the lower of:

80% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, or
the statutory weekly rate, which will rise to £123.25 per week for the 2026/27 tax year.

This is a shift from the flat-rate system and is intended to ensure sick pay better reflects an employee’s actual income while still capping employer liability.

Sexual harassment becomes a protected disclosure in its own right

Currently, an employee may be protected as a whistleblower if they report sexual harassment, but this is not absolute. Under the new rules, the act of reporting sexual harassment will be specifically considered as a protected disclosure on its own, subject to the existing conditions for all types of whistleblowing complaints.

Increase to protective award in collective redundancy

Employees that are subject to a collective redundancy process are entitled to be compensated if their employer did not comply with legal requirements known as “collective consultation”. The compensation awarded is referred to as a “protective award” and is currently set at 90 days’ pay per employee. This will be increased to 180 days. This is intended to strengthen the deterrent against employers failing to follow consultation rules.

New duty to keep "adequate" holiday records

Employers will be required to keep "adequate" records demonstrating compliance with workers' paid annual leave entitlements under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Records must cover leave taken, carried-forward leave, holiday pay calculations, and any payments in lieu, and must be retained for six years. This applies to all eligible workers, including irregular hours and part-year workers. Failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable by fine, with enforcement ultimately expected to sit with the incoming Fair Work Agency.

Creation of the Fair Work Agency

A new enforcement body will be created called the [Fair Work Agency] ('the Agency'). It will have a wide array of responsibility and powers including enforcing wages owed to employees (for example, enforcing minimum wage and holiday pay), raising employment tribunal claims on behalf of employees in certain circumstances, obtaining documents and entering business premises for inspections. Detailed regulations setting out their powers are awaited and it will take some time for the Agency to become fully operational.

Statutory trade union recognition (amendment to threshold)

The current position for a trade union that wants to be recognised by an employer for the purposes of collective bargaining on behalf of the workers in a bargaining unit, is that, where the employer refuses to recognise it, it must make an application to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) and must be able to show the CAC that at least 10% of the workers in the bargaining area are members of the union. The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces the possibility that the 10% threshold could be amended through secondary legislation to anywhere between 2% and 10% in the future.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 further removes the requirement at the application stage for a trade union to demonstrate that there is likely to be majority support for recognition and also removes the 40% support threshold from recognition ballots.

Electronic balloting

The Government is committed to introducing secure electronic balloting for statutory trade union ballots, replacing the postal ballot system that has been in use for decades. This reform aims to make the balloting process faster, more secure, and more accessible to employees.

Umbrella companies

New rules will affect businesses that use umbrella companies or other third-party labour providers.

Responsibility for making sure PAYE is correctly applied will sit with the agency or end client, even where the worker is employed by an umbrella company.

Further changes ahead

There will be a raft of further changes in October 2026 and in 2027. These include:

Harassment prevention

Employers face a duty to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment, and to protect workers from harassment of any kind, including harassment by third parties such as customers and clients.

Fire and rehire restricted

Making it significantly harder for employers to change contracts by dismissal and re-engagement.

Union rights

Employers must inform staff of their right to join a union, with easier union recognition processes.

Employment tribunal claims

Time limit for raising employment tribunal claims extends from three to six months.

Unfair dismissal claims

The qualifying period of employment required to bring a claim for unfair dismissal will be reduced from two years to six months, with the change taking effect from 1 January 2027. This means employees joining from July 2026 onwards are likely to fall within scope. In addition, the cap on compensatory awards (currently the lower of 52 weeks' pay or £118,223) will also be removed.

What employers should be doing now

The changes taking effect from April 2026 represent a fundamental shift in UK employment law, significantly expanding employee rights and strengthening enforcement. For employers, this is not simply a matter of updating contracts at the last minute. The scale of reform under the Employment Rights Act 2025 means organisations will need to plan early, review existing policies and procedures, and embed compliance into day-to-day operations.

Key priorities should include understanding the detailed changes, reviewing family-leave policies to reflect new day-one entitlements, updating sickness absence rules and SSP entitlement, and strengthening whistleblowing and anti-harassment frameworks to manage increased legal risk. Employers involved in restructuring or redundancy exercises should also reassess consultation processes and timings given the doubling of protective awards.

The creation of the Fair Work Agency, alongside expanded union rights and enforcement powers, signals a more proactive regulatory environment. Employers should expect greater scrutiny, faster enforcement action, and fewer procedural barriers for employees bringing claims.

Employers who act now by auditing policies, training managers, and seeking specialist advice will be far better placed to adapt smoothly, avoid costly disputes, and maintain compliant and resilient workplaces as the new legal framework takes effect.