25th March 2026
Employment Law Changes Coming In April 2026: What Employers Need To Know
April 2026 marks another significant milestone in the ongoing reform of UK employment law.
Building on changes already in force under the recently introduced Employment Rights Act 2025, the next wave of reforms will affect how employers manage family leave, sickness absence, pay compliance, whistleblowing complaints, and enforcement risk more generally.
Below, we take a closer look at the key reforms coming into force in April 2026 and what they are likely to mean in practice for employers.
Paternity & Parental Leave: A Day-One Right
One of the headline changes from April 2026 is the removal of qualifying service requirements for paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
Currently, employees must have 26 weeks’ continuous service to qualify for paternity leave and one year’s service to qualify for unpaid parental leave. From April 2026, those qualifying periods will be removed entirely. Instead, employees will be entitled to give notice of their intention to take these forms of leave from day one of employment.
However, the existing notice requirements will remain unchanged. This means that employees must still give:
- 15 weeks’ notice before the expected week of childbirth for paternity leave; and
- 21 days’ notice for unpaid parental leave; or
- notice “as soon as reasonably practicable”.
Another notable change is that employees will be able to take paternity leave after shared parental leave. Currently, once shared parental leave is taken, any unused paternity leave entitlement is lost. That restriction will fall away in April 2026.
In practice, the impact on employers may be relatively modest. Paternity leave will remain capped at 2 weeks, and parental leave is often underused due to its unpaid nature. That said, it is estimated that around 1.5 million employees will now fall within the scope of these new parental leave rights, meaning that employers should be prepared for a gradual increase in take-up.
Paternity Leave For Bereaved Partners
From 6th April 2026, the long-anticipated Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act is expected to come into force.
This will give partners the right to take up to 52 weeks’ leave where the child’s mother dies during the first year of the child’s life. This is also a day-one right, and the amount of leave available will depend on when the bereavement occurs.
Importantly for employers, there is no statutory pay attached to this leave. Nonetheless, this is a sensitive area, and employers should ensure managers are trained to respond appropriately and that policies clearly set out the entitlement and process.
Statutory Sick Pay: A Fundamental Shift
April 2026 will also see a fundamental shift in the eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Currently, SSP is only payable to employees who:
- Earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (£123 per week); and
- Have been absent for at least four consecutive working days.
From April 2026, that framework will change substantially:
- No earnings threshold: SSP will be available to all employees regardless of earnings.
- No waiting days: SSP will be available from the first day of sickness absence.
- New rate: SSP will be paid at 80% of an employee’s earnings or capped at the flat rate of £118.75 per week (whichever is lower).
With an estimated 1.3 million employees currently earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (and around one quarter of employees receiving SSP at some point each year) this reform will significantly widen access to paid sick leave.
While the full impact remains to be seen, employers should take steps now to review sickness absence policies and contractual sick pay provisions, ensuring they align with the new SSP regime and clearly set expectations around attendance and reporting.
National Minimum Wage Increases
From April 2026, the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will increase as follows:
- National Living Wage: from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour
- 18-20 year old rate: from £10.00 to £10.85 per hour
- 16-17 year old rate: from £7.55 to £8.00 per hour
While annual increases are expected, employers should be mindful that enforcement responsibility will soon sit with the new Fair Work Agency (detailed below), which may lead to more proactive investigations.
The Fair Work Agency: A New Enforcement Landscape
Perhaps one of the most consequential changes is the creation of the Fair Work Agency (FWA).
Historically, enforcement of employment rights has relied heavily on individuals bringing Employment Tribunal claims. The FWA will change that dynamic by giving the state greater power to enforce rights on workers’ behalf.
The FWA will bring together existing enforcement bodies and will have powers to enforce rights, including:
- holiday pay;
- Statutory Sick Pay, and
- unpaid tribunal awards.
Its powers will include workplace inspections, the ability to require and seize documents, the issuing of civil penalties for underpayment (with claims going back up to six years), and the power to bring Employment Tribunal claims directly on a worker’s behalf. It will also be able to recover enforcement costs from employers found to be in breach.
This represents a clear shift towards more proactive enforcement and a higher risk for non‑compliant employers.
Whistleblowing: Sexual Harassment As A Protected Disclosure
From April 2026, the scope of whistleblowing protection will expand to explicitly include sexual harassment.
At present, employees raising concerns about sexual harassment must link their disclosure to one of the existing categories of wrongdoing under section 43B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 – often relying on health & safety or a breach of legal obligation.
However, from April, sexual harassment will be added as a standalone category of wrongdoing capable of forming a “protected disclosure”. This means workers who raise concerns about sexual harassment (whether it has occurred, is ongoing, or is likely to occur) will benefit from protection against detriment and unfair dismissal.
For employers, this reinforces the importance of robust reporting procedures, prompt investigations, and ensuring that whistleblowers are not subjected to retaliation.
Collective Redundancies: Higher Financial Risk
Finally, employers should note the increased penalties for failing to comply with collective redundancy consultation obligations.
From April 2026, the maximum protective award will increase from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay per affected employee. Given the number of claims already being brought in this area (notably 5,026 cases in 2022-23), the financial exposure for getting collective consultation wrong will be significantly higher.
Concluding Thoughts
While not all the changes detailed above will have an immediate or dramatic operational impact, they do increase compliance risk for employers who fail to update policies, contracts, and internal processes in good time.
Taken together, the April 2026 reforms mark a clear move towards greater protection and rights for employees, combined with stronger enforcement powers where these requirements are not met. Therefore, early preparation here will be key.
