Upcoming employment law changes…

Changes to Employment Law coming into force in April 2026

Last December the government’s new Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) became law, and in April 2026 some of the first major provisions of this legislation will come into force.  These include:

Day-one parental leave.

Unpaid parental leave will become a day one right for eligible employees on 6 April 2026 under section 15 of the ERA 2025.   Eligible employees are those with caring responsibility for a child under the age of 18.

Previously, employees had to have one year’s continuous service before they had the right to unpaid parental leave.

Parents who gain the right to parental leave on 6 April 2026 as a result of section 15 (I.e. those who previously didn’t have sufficient continuous service) can give notices that they wish to take parental leave from 18 February 2026.

Day-one paternity leave (and the ability to take paternity leave after a period of shared parental leave).

Paternity leave will also become a day one right for eligible employees (section 16, ERA 2025). It currently requires 26 weeks’ continuous service at the relevant date

Section 17 of the ERA 2025 makes a further change by allowing employees to take paternity leave and receiving statutory paternity pay after a period of shared parental leave.

Sections 16 and 17 come into force on 6 April 2026, but the new paternity leave provisions only apply in relation to:

• • Children born on or after 6 April 2026.
  • Children born prior to 6 April but whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) starts on or after 5 April 2026.
  • Children placed for adoption on or after that date (or who enter Great Britain on or after that date in an overseas adoption case).
  • Children whose primary carer dies on or after that date (regardless of the date of birth, EWC or placement).

Where the employee is newly eligible for paternity leave as a result of section 16 and the EWC falls between 6 April and 25 July 2026, they must give 28 days’ notice to take paternity leave (rather than giving notice by the end of the 15th week before the EWC which was required by the old regulations).

Such notices can be given from 18 February 2026. Cases where the employee would already have qualified for paternity leave under the old rules are not affected, and the usual notice provisions apply to those cases.

In relation to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

Currently employees cannot claim SSP until they have been absent for more than three consecutive days.

However, from 6 April 2026 the three day waiting period will be removed and employees will be eligible for SSP from the first day of sickness.

In addition to benefitting employees who have short periods of absence, the removal of the “waiting days” will also assist in phased returns to work. For example, if someone who normally works five days returns from sick leave on an initial three-day week, they will be entitled to SSP for the other two days.

Another change is in relation to low paid employees.  Currently no SSP is payable where the employee earns less than £125 per week.  This lower earnings limit is being removed making it easier to claim.

To avoid the rate of SSP being higher than the wages of lower paid employees, the ERA 2025 states that the weekly rate of SSP will be the lower of the £123.25 prescribed weekly rate (the rate from April 2026) and 80% of normal weekly earnings.

Perhaps surprisingly this could result in some lower paid employees receiving less SSP under the new regulations.  For example, under the current law (and based on current SSP rates), an employee with weekly earnings of £125 gets £118.75.  Under the new regulations that employee will only receive £100 a week.

Conclusion

The stated aims of the amendments to parental / paternity leave is to bring these elements into line with the majority of other types of family leave.

Whilst the changes will be a big boost for newly eligible employees, the overall impact on employers is unlikely to be massive.

In contrast, a survey published by ACAS in February 2026, suggests that the changes to sick pay eligibility will have the biggest impact on both employers and workers.

Employers need to be aware of these changes along with other planned amendments to employment law in the coming months / years.

Staff handbooks and any stand-alone policies / procedures will need to be updated in good time before the changes take effect.

DFA Law has been providing expert legal advice for over 180 years and our employment team is available to help businesses adapt to the changing employment law landscape.

For a free no obligation quote, please contact Michael Nadin on 01604 609 566 or at michael.nadin@dfalaw.co.uk .