Following on from our recent training session on the new Employment Rights Act 2025 and the major changes in employment law it will introduce, The next tranche of those changes is due to come into force on 6 April 2026 and now is the time to make sure your business is prepared for them.

The changes likely to have the biggest impact on all employers relate to the Statutory Sick Pay rules; these changes mean that from 6 April 2026 SSP will be payable from the first day of absence. Further, the lower earning limit on a week’s pay (previously set at £1235per week) will be removed.

As a consequence of these changes employers will be required to pay SSP from the first day of absence, at whichever is the lower of:

-      80% of an employee’s normal weekly earnings; or

-      the statutory flat rate that is rising to £123.25 per week.

The change will mean that all employers, regardless of income level, will now qualify for SSP and as a consequence it appears highly likely that employers will see an upturn in short term absence levels particularly from those employees who could not previously ‘afford’ to be off sick. Employers should therefore act now to review their payroll systems, absence reporting procedures and sickness management policies.

The other changes in employment law taking effect in April 2026 are:

• The entitlement to take paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will also become a day one right for eligible employees;
• The introduction of a new bereaved partner’s paternity leave entitlement;
• Disclosures about sexual harassment will be classified as a “protected disclosure” for whistleblowing purposes;
• The protective award maximum (payable in circumstances in which employers have failed to follow collective consultation obligations) will increase significantly from 90 days’ pay per employee to 180 days;
• The following hourly rates for National Minimum Wage purposes will increase from 1 April 2026: 

o £12.21 rising to £12.71 – National Living Wage (age 21 and over) 

• £10.00 rising to £10.75 – Age 18–20 
• £7.55 rising to £8.00– Under 18 
• £7.55 rising to £8.00 – Apprentice rate (if under 19, or 19+ in first year) 

• The rate of statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and shared parental pay will increase from £187.18 to £194.32 after the first 6 weeks.

FMGS are available to assist employers seeking to review their sickness absence policies and staff handbooks to prepare for the above changes. Suzanne Mainwaring in our Employment Team can be contacted on s.mainwaring@fmgs.co.uk.

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