As we reach the end of April 2026, the UK’s employment landscape has undergone its most seismic shift in a generation. The “wait and see” period is officially over, with vast swathes of the Employment Rights Act 2025 now active. The rules of the game have fundamentally changed for every employer and employee in the country.
At Refreshing Law, we’ve spent the past month helping businesses transition through these updates. Here’s a summary of the new business reality, the challenges we’re seeing on the ground, and what you need to prepare for next.
The April recap
The start of this month wasn’t just a new tax year; it saw the activation of several transformative employment rights.
1. The end of the SSP waiting period
The three-day waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is now a thing of the past. As of 6 April, SSP is payable from Day 1 of illness. Low paid workers now also qualify for SSP for the first time as the lower earnings limit which blocked anyone earning less than £125 a week from getting SSP has now been removed.
The Impact: This was voted by 43% of employers as the reform they felt would have the biggest impact and many are already reporting that their absence rates have increased, particularly for our clients whose staff didn’t previously qualify for SSP due to the lower earnings limit. We’re already seeing businesses adjusting their cash flow and absence tracking to manage the immediate cost of short-term sickness, as well as implementing absence management policies that enable them to issue warnings when non disability or pregnancy related absences hit certain triggers.
2. The launch of the Fair Work Agency (FWA)
The FWA is now operational. It has consolidated the powers of HMRC’s Minimum Wage team, the GLAA and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate into a single, unified enforcement body.
The Impact: The FWA is a regulator with increased powers to proactively audit your business and initiate investigations. It can inspect workplaces, demand records and initiate employment tribunal complaints on behalf of workers. It also has the power to impose fines to those who underpay holiday, SSP or who do not pay national minimum wage. This can include penalties of up to 200%. Many SMEs are currently struggling with the new statutory duty to maintain six years of detailed leave records. Failure to produce these can now lead to criminal liability.
3. Family friendly “Day 1” rights are the new standard
We’ve moved into an era of immediate protection. Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave are now a legally protected right from the first date of employment. Previously employees had to have 26 weeks’ service to qualify for paternity and one years’ service to qualify for parental leave.
4. Collective consultation
Additionally, the maximum protective award for failing to consult in collective redundancies (where you propose to make more than 20 employees redundant at one establishment in a 90-day period) has doubled from 90 days to 180 days’ pay.
5. Sexual harassment whistleblowing
The final April change to flag is that workers who disclose sexual harassment are now entitled to whistleblower protection. To qualify, they must reasonably believe the disclosure is in the public interest. Whilst legally, sexual harassment was likely to constitute a protected disclosure even prior to this change, there has been so much talk about the ERA changes that it will inevitably lead to a greater awareness of sexual harassment whistleblowing as a claim and we may therefore see an uptick in ET complaints in this area as a result.
What’s next? The countdown to 2027
While we’ve cleared the April 2026 hurdle, the ERA roadmap has another tranche of changes in October 2026 and then two major milestones looming that will dwarf recent changes.
1. The end of the qualifying period
On 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal will drop from two years to just six months. Employers must ensure that their recruitment and probation processes are incredibly robust, as the window to get it right is narrowing significantly.
2. The removal of the compensation cap
We’re currently in the final period of capped compensatory awards (now set at £123,543). On 1 January 2027, the cap will be removed entirely.
Why this matters: The UK is moving from a predictable regime to an uncapped one, diverging from European neighbours like Ireland and France. This will make high-earner litigation far more common and settlement negotiations much more complex.
Our legal perspective
The theme for the remainder of 2026 is prepartion and procedural rigour. With the FWA looking back over the last six years and the removal of the compensation cap on the horizon, poor record-keeping is no longer an option.
Is your business protected? If you haven’t yet audited your payroll systems, updated your contracts to ensure that you are adequately protected or or updated your staff handbooks/policies to reflect the Day 1 rights that came into force this month, now is the time.
Contact Refreshing Law today for a compliance review to ensure your business is ready for next year.
For more information about the changes ahead, please download our Employment Right Act timeline.
CONTACT US
We’re here to help with any questions or concerns you may have. Whether you need expert advice or would like an initial conversation about our services, pricing, or the options available, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. At Refreshing Law, what sets us apart from other law firms is that you’ll get to speak to an experienced employment lawyer right from the very first call.
lreynolds@refreshinglawltd.co.uk
Lousha Reynolds
Refreshing Law
