UK employment law changes – being proactive rather than reactive

Employment law changes are a bigger headache for smaller firms with limited resources, but as these HR and legal experts state, reviewing and adjusting processes is all you need to do.

Each new year in business brings about key changes, and 2026 is no exception. 

For UK firms this year, leaders can’t only be thinking about the big picture stuff like strategy or developing new products; bosses need to sit up and prepare for the major legislative changes that aren’t only around the corner, but have arrived.

Whether the Labour Government is a friend of UK enterprise or not makes for a lively discussion, but what can’t be denied or ignored are the new changes to UK employment law.

What are the legal changes?

Part of the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay [MWP]; the aim is to modernise employment rights legislation and better protect and benefit the employee. 

These changes, which constitute a major shift to statutory rights, include reforms introduced via the Employment Rights Act 2025 and will be rolled out in phases over the next year. 

The Act, which received royal assent in late 2025, is expected to improve the working lives of an estimated 15 million people, including those in lower-paid and insecure roles.

In a published press release last year, the Government said the laws will empower 32,000 more fathers to take paternity leave and 1.5 million more parents to take unpaid parental leave annually. Plus, some 1.3 million low-paid workers will benefit from paid time off work when they are sick. Amendments to zero-hour contracts and bereavement leave are set to follow in 2027.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the new laws a move to “bring work into the 21st century.” While they certainly are, in terms of empowering UK employees with greater rights at work, businesses, particularly those with smaller teams and budgets, like SMEs, need to be even more on top of the new laws or else risk legal trouble.

While many businesses have likely prepared for these legislative changes, for firms on the smaller side who are hard-pressed for time, here’s a reminder of what to prepare for. Just remember that more changes will roll out throughout 2026/7.

New employment laws – a snapshot

April 2026 is a big month for changing legal rights for UK employees. Overall, these legislative changes will empower the employee to access rights earlier than before. Here are some of the main ones to consider.

Parental leave

From 6 April 2026, working parents will be able to take unpaid parental leave, which is when they can take time off work to care for their children, from the first day of their employment, making it a  ‘day one right.’ The notice requirement for this remains 21 days

Before, employees had to have worked in their place of employment for one year.

Paternity leave

For new fathers wanting to take paternity leave for babies born [due] on or after 6 April 2026, the 26-week service requirement has been scrapped, and is now a day-one right. 

Before, employees were entitled to take paternity leave if they had been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks up to the end of any day in the ‘qualifying week’, namely the 15th week before the baby was due, meaning they must have been employed before their partner became pregnant.

However, to receive statutory paternity pay, they need to have completed 26 weeks’ service. Namely, 26 weeks up to the end of any day in the qualifying week. 

Sickness [SSP]

From April 6 2026, employees will have more rights around access to Statutory Sick Pay [SSP] from the first day of their absence through sickness. 

Before, employees had to wait until their fourth day of sickness absence before claiming SSP, and they had to have earned £125 per week to be eligible. Now, the lower earnings limit has been scrapped, meaning all employees are eligible for SSP regardless of what they earn.

The law is one thing, but how to implement these changes? Here’s what some very well-versed legal and HR experts had to say…

Updating systems, training managers and more

For Florence Brocklesby, founder of workplace law and commercial disputes firm Bellevue Law, employers can best prepare by staying abreast of legal changes and amending existing policies.

“The new rules will simplify and increase family leave entitlements, and the greater flexibility will be welcomed by parents. To ensure they are ready, employers should be reviewing and amending their family leave policies to reflect the changes, training managers who are the first point of contact for employees requesting leave, and monitoring government updates on details of the reforms which haven’t yet been published.”

Anton Roe, Chief Executive Officer at MHR, an HR and payroll expert with SME clients, warns payroll teams to consider how employees already on sick leave will be affected by the new rules on Statutory Sick Pay [SSP].

“Payroll teams have one of the biggest jobs when it comes to preparing for the employment law changes,” he states.

“With SSP, payroll teams across SMEs will be focused on updating their systems to reflect reforms. To manage this, payroll teams should now be reviewing their internal sickness policies and employment contracts and identifying references to waiting days or the lower earnings limit, as these will need updating. They must also consider how any occupational sickness schemes could interact with the new statutory rules and if any changes may be needed on this front, too.”

For Bobby Ahmed, Managing Director of employment law company Neathouse Partners, it’s all about preparation: “While the intention is to strengthen worker protections, measures such as day one statutory sick pay, expanded parental leave rights and further increases to the National Living Wage have understandably raised concerns around cost, operational flexibility and absence management, particularly for smaller businesses,” he admits.

“From our own business perspective, preparation is largely about the fundamentals. This includes reviewing contracts and policies, stress testing payroll and absence processes, and making sure managers understand what day one rights actually look like in real life. Being an employment law and HR company does not remove the practical impact of these reforms. If anything, it sharpens the focus on getting things right. We are subject to the same rules as everyone else, and that means clear processes, consistency and careful implementation.

“For other employers, the key is not to ignore the changes simply because they feel challenging or unwelcome. Early preparation creates breathing space to plan, budget and communicate effectively, whereas last-minute action rarely ends well. These reforms may not suit every business model, but with the right groundwork in place, they are far easier to manage and far less likely to cause disruption once they take effect.”

Laura Franklin, Employment Partner at Beswicks Legal solicitors, has seen concern among clients around the removal of the three-day waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay. “This effectively turns SSP into a day-one entitlement, which will require SMEs to be much more rigorous in their absence management and cash-flow forecasting than before,” she explains.

“To prepare, we are already carrying out audits of internal policies and those used by our SME clients. We are specifically looking at contract templates to ensure day-one entitlements are clearly defined and that managers are trained to handle leave requests from new starters without causing friction.”

Now what?

For smaller businesses minus the large teams with specialist roles, the thought of updating business operations to reflect new legal changes might feel intimidating. But from what these experts have shared, the key is to make time for proper business systems analysis and amendments to ensure preparation, rather than reactive chaos, is the order of the day. 

Complying with legal changes is a must for SMEs, and for those seeing it as a burden, why not embrace the opportunity the new laws hold to promote your business as inclusive and flexible? 

If you have to implement paternity leave as a day-one right, for example, why not build other company procedures around this legal right, whether that’s greater workplace support or information services around paternity leave and returning to work, or something else which makes your business stand out as an extra-inclusive and supportive employer? This way, your business will be seen as an attractive place to work, potentially increasing recruitment interest.

Stephen Simpson, Principal HR Strategy and Practice Editor at HR consultancy, Brightmine, agrees. “The reforms also create an opportunity to improve internal practices in ways that visibly support inclusion. For example, responding transparently to flexible working requests and investing in line‑manager capability signal a commitment to equitable treatment.”

New employment law changes don’t have to be a burden; they can be an opportunity…

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