Solicitor Dayna Rodrigues, in our Employment Law team, highlights the key provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 that have come into force this month.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) is bringing about radical changes to UK employment law. We continue to explore various key provisions which have, and are, coming into force.
It is vitally important for employers and HR professionals to be aware of and to understand what these changes could mean for their businesses. Naturally, our specialist Employment Law team is here to help and advise.
A number of key provisions came into force this month, on 6 April 2026, including (but not limited to):
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP):
- Employees now have a ‘day 1’ right to receive SSP meaning that eligible employees are entitled to receive SSP from the first full day that they are ‘off sick’.
- The weekly rate of SSP is now the lower of £123.25 (per week) and 80% of an employee’s normal weekly earnings.
- Employees no longer have to earn above a certain amount (formerly the lower earnings limit) to be eligible for SSP, thus making SSP available to all eligible employees regardless of the amount that they’re paid.
- Please see our recent blog article ‘Employment Law – Changes to Statutory Sick Pay to Take Effect in April 2026’ for more information.
Parental and paternity leave
- Employees are now entitled to take parental and paternity leave respectively from their first day of employment.
- Employees are no longer restricted from taking paternity leave and pay after a period of shared parental leave and pay, creating greater flexibility for new parents.
- Please see our recent blog article ‘Employment Law – Family Leave Changes to Take Effect in April 2026’ for further information.
Protection in relation to making disclosures regarding sexual harassment
Whistleblowing protections now specifically include disclosures relating to sexual harassment that has occurred, is likely to occur or is occurring.
Collective consultation
The maximum protective award that each affected employee can receive (in the event a claim is brought successfully in the employment tribunals for a failure by their employer to comply with collective redundancy consultation requirements) has now doubled from 90 days’ gross pay per affected employee to 180 days’ gross pay per affected employee.
Duty to keep annual leave records
- Employers now have a new duty to maintain adequate records which demonstrate that they are adhering to their employee’s entitlement to receive paid annual leave.
- These records must be kept for a period of 6 years.
- Breach of this duty is a criminal offence and employers who fail to comply could be fined.
- The legislation sets out that employers must keep and maintain these records ‘in such manner and format as the employer reasonably thinks fit’. It is not apparent whether guidance will be released in due course however we suggest to employers to review their current practices and keep their new record keeping under review and updated at regular intervals.
- Please see our recent blog article ‘New Employer Duty: Keeping Annual Leave and Holiday Pay Records under the Employment Rights Act’ for more information.
The Fair Work Agency
Moreover, the ERA establishes the Fair Work Agency (FWA) as of 7 April 2026. The FWA brings together state enforcement functions across a myriad of functions under one umbrella.
FWA powers include (but are not limited to): regulation of employment agencies and businesses; the penalty scheme relating to unpaid tribunal awards; the enforcement of unpaid SSP, the national minimum wage and holiday pay; and licensing for businesses operating as ‘gangmasters’ in specific sectors.
We understand that the FWA will have the power to enter employer premises; require employers to produce their records to show compliance; issue Notices of Underpayment (which could require that employers pay their workers what they’re owed but also pay a penalty to the government for non-compliance); could seek to recover their enforcement costs from non-compliant employers against whom action has been taken, and much more.
We have already seen a number of ERA provisions come into force and expect to see many more radical changes come into force down the line, including this October 2026 and next January 2027.
See our other blogs for more information, including Employment Rights Act 2025: The Key Employment Law Changes for a look back at other key provisions which have already come into force and what to expect looking ahead.
Watch this space as we keep you updated with more news in relation to the ERA 2025.
Our Employment Law team advises employees and employers on all aspects of Employment Law. Please get in touch if we can help.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
