While businesses might be distracted by other concerns in the current global climate – fuel volatility, material costs, and further pressures on margins – the tides of change remain in motion in UK legislature. Below is an overview from the government’s Employment Rights Bill and the elements coming into force this April.
Background
The Employment Rights Bill launched in 2024 and received royal assent in December 2025. It’s the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation and sets out over ‘30 key employment law reforms over 330 pages of complex legislation’.
•Eight reforms will launch in April 2026
• Nine more come into force in October 2026
• A final eleven changes follow throughout 2027
The eight changes arriving in April 2026
Speaking at an infrastructure conference this year, Emma McGrath of Citation Professional Services laid out the changes in detail, which cover:
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Fair Work Agency established
• Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award
• ‘Day 1’ Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave
• Whistleblowing protections
• Simplifying trade union recognition process
• Electronic and workplace balloting
• Voluntary gender pay gap and menopause action plans
How will April’s Employment Rights Bill changes impact businesses?
From 6 April:
• Lowpaid and parttime workers become eligible for SSP: The government is removing the Lower Earnings Limit (125 per week), meaning employees who previously...
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