Employment Rights Act: What's coming in April and How Can You Prepare?

Changes to paternity leave coming into effect on 6 April 2026 are:

• Paternity leave will become a day-one right for eligible employees, down from the current 26 weeks’ qualifying period. 
• It only applies to babies whose expected week of birth is on or after 5 April 2026 or babies born on or after 6 April 2026.  In adoption cases, the changes only apply to placements starting on or after 6 April 2026.  Statutory paternity pay will not become a day-one right.  
• There will be a transitional period in birth situations where the expected week of childbirth falls in the period from 5 April to 25 July 2026 inclusive. In these cases, newly eligible parents can give notice of their intention to take leave from 18 February 2026 by giving 28 days’ notice (as opposed to the usual 15 weeks), for leave taken on or after 6 April 2026.
• The prohibition on taking paternity leave or receiving statutory paternity pay after a period of shared parental leave and pay will be removed.

There are also changes to parental leave coming into effect on 6 April 2026:

• Unpaid parental leave will also become a day-one right for eligible employees.  It currently requires one year’s service. Parental leave enables an eligible employee to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child within their first 18 years of life.
• Eligible employees wanting to take leave from 6 April 2026 will be able to give notice from 18 February 2026.

What action should you be taking?

You should now be reviewing any paternity leave and parental leave policies you have in place to ensure they reflect these changes. We have updated our template Paternity Leave and Pay policy, our template Parental Leave and Pay Policy and related resources, and these are available on the client portal for existing clients of our ELHR service. You should also consider any enhanced paternity leave provisions which need to be amended.  

For non ELHR clients who wish to purchase a copy of our template policies, please contact enquiries@judicium.com. These are priced at £99 plus VAT per policy, and a package of template letters is also available at £99 plus VAT per topic. 

Whilst this is mentioned in the updated timeline, it is not a change under the Employment Rights Act 2025. This change will enable bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life , and is due to come into effect on 6 April. We are in the process of putting together resources on this new change and will let you know when these are available.

From 6 April 2026, the three-day waiting period and the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be removed.  Under the new system, employees on low wages who are unable to work due to sickness will either receive 80% of their normal weekly earnings or the current rate of SSP (from 6 April 2026, this will be £123.25), whichever is lower.

What action should you be taking?

In the event you offer enhanced sick pay only from day 4, you should review this and consider if you now want to offer enhanced from day 1. In the event you only pay SSP to any or all staff, these changes may add to your costs, and you may see an increase in short-term absences of a few days; these will need to be managed appropriately.

Whichever approach you take, you should now be reviewing your sick pay policy and any other associated documents to ensure these changes are appropriately reflected. We’re updating our Absence policies and related resources, and these will be available on the client portal for existing ELHR clients and available to purchase for non-clients. We will let you know when these are available.  

It is important to ensure compliance with the new measures for SSP, particularly because the newly created Fair Work Agency will have new powers to enforce non-payment or incorrect payment of any statutory payment, including SSP.  You should ensure both HR and payroll are aligned on these new rules.

Employers are liable to pay a protective award for breaches of the consultation requirements in a collective redundancy situation. From 6 April 2026, the maximum period of the protective award will double from a maximum of 90 days’ pay per employee to a maximum of 180 days’ pay per affected employee.  This means that whenever an employer fails to fulfil their collective redundancy obligations and a successful complaint is made, an Employment Tribunal will be able to award up to 180 days’ pay against the employer instead of the current maximum of 90 days per affected employee. This includes not only those employees who were made redundant but also those who were at risk or may be affected by the proposed measures.  

In addition, since claims for unfair dismissal could be pursued at the same time and the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will be, it is proposed to be uncapped in the future, it will be essential to ensure you follow a full and fair process.

Government guidance on collective consultation obligations is expected in due course, and we will let you know when this is available.

What action should you be taking?

There will be a significant increase in the cost of non-compliance for employers, and going through the proper process and timescales will need to be factored into any restructuring plans.  If you are proposing any restructure or redundancies, or changes to terms and conditions of employment, we would urge you to seek advice from a member of the team. Now is also a good opportunity to review any redundancy/restructure policies you may have.

From 6 April 2026, sexual harassment will be added to the list that can form the subject matter of a “whistleblowing disclosure”, i.e. a protected disclosure.  This will give workers clearer protection - although in reality, employment tribunals stretch the existing categories of protected disclosures to include harassment.

It is important to remember that no qualifying service is needed to pursue a whistleblowing claim, and there is no cap on compensation. It is also important to remember that it covers sexual harassment that an employee reasonably believes has occurred, is happening or is likely to happen.

What action should you be taking?

We’re in the process of reviewing our Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy and Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure, and related resources. These will be accessible on the client portal for existing ELHR clients and available to purchase for non-clients. We will let you know when these are available.

You should also train managers and staff to ensure compliance with this new whistleblowing protection coming into force on 6 April 2026.  

The Future

Separately, the Employment Rights Act 2025 includes a new measure which bans employers from using confidentiality clauses to prevent a worker from making an allegation or disclosure about harassment or discrimination.  It also includes disclosures about how the employer responds to such an allegation or disclosure.  The Act provides that an “excepted agreement” would be outside the scope of the new provisions although we await further details of what this may be and when this may come into force.

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will be established on 7 April 2026, bringing together existing enforcement bodies and taking on the enforcement of other employment rights, including unpaid wages, holiday pay and statutory sick pay. 

The FWA will look out for failures and be able to bring employment tribunal claims on behalf of workers who have a claim but who are unable to, or choose not to, pursue the claim themselves.  Any compensation awarded will go directly to the workers. We will wait and see if the FWA will use these powers sparingly or enthusiastically. However, it is probably safe to assume they will use it to set examples and will be litigating on principle, so it is much less likely they will be open to settling claims.

Some of the powers the FWA will have include: inspecting workplaces and demanding documents from employers, rights of search, powers to impose fines, power to litigate on behalf of workers and the ability to publish lists of employers not meeting their legal obligations.

It is not yet clear when the FWA’s enforcement powers will come into force.  The Government will set out further details, including timescales for implementation, in due course. We will keep you updated.

What action should you be taking?

While it is not yet clear when the enforcement powers will come into force, schools/trusts should consider conducting a thorough compliance check ahead of the FWA becoming operational.  This can include deductions of pay, unpaid training times, work uniform costs, holiday pay calculations, especially for overtime and irregular hours (including term-time only holiday pay) and minimum wage practices.

Two areas of particular focus in the FWA’s initial enforcement strategy are likely to be non-payment or underpayment of holiday pay and national minimum wage.  It is therefore important to review contracts, policies and procedures, to ensure compliance with holiday pay requirements, remind workers to use their holiday entitlement and ensure staff are given enough opportunity to take it.  Ensure systems for checking NMW compliance are fit for purpose.

Trade Union reforms are among the key measures set out in the Employment Rights Act 2025. In our previous article, we reported on the Trade union reforms that are coming into effect on 18th February 2026.  If you missed this article, you can read it here. From 6 April 2026, trade unions will no longer need 40% workforce support in a recognition ballot, but just a simple majority of those voting and unions applying for recognition will only need to show 10% membership of the bargaining unit, instead of proving they are likely to win a ballot.  This will not apply if you have fewer than 21 workers (including casual workers and agency staff).

What action should you be taking?

All employers need to be aware of how the trade union reforms could impact their school/trust, not just those who recognise trade unions already.  The Government is simplifying the process for trade unions to apply for recognition in workplaces in April, ahead of reforms coming into force in October 2026, which will give any trade union with a certificate of independence the right to apply for access to any workplace, including businesses with no recognised trade union.

Now is the time for employers to review employee engagement strategies, to consider establishing employee forums if none exist, and to engage early with employee representatives to discuss the changes and to strengthen relationships and communication. For larger employers, recognition campaigns by unions will become more likely, so by putting staff forums in place now and ensuring they are credible rather than cosmetic, it is less likely your workforce will be keen to impose union recognition.

If your school/trust is already unionised, ensure your internal playbook for industrial action is updated -e.g. notice periods, communications lines, decision points.