| Most of the immediate or very imminent changes under the Act relate to rules governing strike action and trade union activity, so as that does not apply to the vast majority of SMEs we won’t provide detail here, but feel free to contact us if you need any advice in relation to those topics.
April 2026 Changes
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be paid from the first day of absence (not from the fourth day as currently). Also, workers will no longer have to earn at least the Lower Earnings Level to qualify, all workers will be paid SSP (£123.25 per week or 80% of their normal wages, whichever is lower). NB SSP remains £118.75 per week until 6th April 2026.
- Both Paternity Leave and ordinary Parental Leave will become day one rights (currently the service requirement is 26 weeks and one year, respectively).
- The restriction on taking Paternity Leave after Shared Parental Leave will be removed.
October 2026 Changes*
- A “ban” on Fire and Re-hire will take effect. This means that if you dismiss someone in order to try to engage them on different T&Cs, that will be automatically unfair dismissal in most cases.
- Employers will need to consult the workforce before creating a tipping policy (where that is applicable) and will need to update the tipping policy every three years.
- Employers will be directly liable for harassment of their staff by third parties
- The time limit for bringing any type of claim to a tribunal will be 6 months (currently it is 3 months for most claims, including unfair dismissal). NB the ACAS Early Conciliation Period was extended last month from 6 to 12 weeks, meaning the window of opportunity to lodge a claim will have increased significantly.
January 2027 Changes*
- Employees will be able to claim unfair dismissal after just 6 months’ service (currently they need two years’ service).
- The cap on compensation for unfair dismissal claims will be removed completely (currently it is capped at one year’s salary or £118,223, whichever is lower).
- There will be increased protection for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave.
- Those on zero hours contracts will have the right to guaranteed hours and to compensation for cancelled shifts.
- Employers will need to give more detail if refusing a flexible working request and explain why they consider their refusal to be reasonable.
- There will be a new right to Bereavement Leave (whether paid or unpaid has not yet been determined).
* some of these changes are subject to consultation and there is a chance dates or details may change. We will, of course, notify you in due course if that is the case and keep you informed of when these items do actually roll out. |
