Mar 20

New employment rights in April: what this means for your business

While many of the headline reforms introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 are not expected until 2027, some important changes are arriving much sooner. From 6 April 2026, employees will gain access to new ‘day one’ rights, which employers should be prepared for.

Statutory sick pay (SSP)

Changes to Statutory Sick Pay will expand eligibility and adjust how payments are calculated:

  • The current three-day waiting period will be removed, meaning SSP is payable from the first day of sickness
  • The lower earnings threshold, currently £125 per week, will be removed, making SSP available to all employees

Employees will receive the lower of the standard SSP rate or 80% of their average weekly earnings

With these changes, employers may see an increase in short-term sickness absence. Taking a consistent and supportive approach will be key. Practical steps to help manage this include:

  • Keeping in regular contact with employees during periods of absence

  • Holding return-to-work meetings to understand any issues and support a smooth transition back

Ordinary Parental & Paternal Leave

Paternity leave and unpaid ordinary parental leave will both become available from the first day of employment:

  • Unpaid ordinary parental leave, which currently requires one year of service, will also become an entitlement from the first day of employment
  • Although eligibility for paternity pay will still require 26 weeks of service, employers and employees will see that paternity leave will become a day-one right.

Bereaved partners paternity leave

A change to bereaved partners’ paternity leave is being introduced through separate legislation and will take effect from 6 April 2026 as a new statutory ‘day-one’ right. There is no statutory pay attached to this entitlement.

The new leave is designed to support employees who experience the loss of a child’s mother within the first year of the child’s life. In these circumstances, employees will be entitled to take up to 52 weeks of leave, depending on when the bereavement occurs.

The same entitlement will apply in adoption cases where the primary adopter passes away.

Read more in government factsheets covering SSP and paternity and parental leave changes.