Employment compliance · United Kingdom

Employment Rights Act 2025: the day-one rights from April 2026

By Stefan Gauci Scicluna · Auren Institute · Last reviewed 31 May 2026 · Updated within 30 days of legislative change

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, and its first major wave of day-one rights took effect on 6 April 2026. From that date statutory sick pay is payable from the first day of absence with the lower earnings limit removed, and paternity leave, unpaid parental leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave all became day-one rights. One point trips up employers: unfair dismissal did not become a day-one right. After defeats in the House of Lords the government reversed that, and instead the qualifying period drops from two years to six months from 1 January 2027. For an HR or L&D leader at an SME, the question is whether your managers know which right applies from which date, and whether they have been trained before it bites.

This is a practitioner brief on UK employment law, not a legal summary. It separates the day-one rights already in force from the changes coming on 1 January 2027, names the obligation behind each, and sets out what HR has to action now.

What “day-one right” actually means for the SME

A day-one right applies from the employee’s first day, with no qualifying service period. The Act moves several rights to day one, which removes the cushion managers relied on in the early months. Recruitment decisions, family-leave requests and early absence handling now carry legal weight from the start. The people who create that risk are line managers, not the HR team, so the training has to reach them.

The day-one rights in force from 6 April 2026

1. Statutory sick pay from day one. The three-day waiting period is removed, so statutory sick pay is payable from the first day of sickness absence, and the lower earnings limit is removed so lower-paid staff qualify. Low earners are paid the lower of 80 percent of normal weekly earnings or the flat weekly rate. Payroll and absence processes need updating, and the cost is no longer recoverable from government.
2. Paternity leave as a day-one right. The 26-week qualifying period for paternity leave is removed. Note the limit: this is the day-one right to take the leave (unpaid). Statutory paternity pay still requires 26 weeks’ continuous service by the relevant week.
3. Unpaid parental leave as a day-one right. The one-year qualifying period for unpaid parental leave (up to 18 weeks per child up to age 18) is removed, so eligible employees can take it from the start.
4. Bereaved partner’s paternity leave. A new day-one right to leave where a child’s primary carer dies within a year of birth or adoption.
5. Other 6 April 2026 changes. Sexual harassment becomes a qualifying disclosure for whistleblowing, employers must keep records of annual leave and holiday pay, the maximum collective redundancy protective award rises to 180 days’ pay, and trade union recognition is simplified.

Sources: Employment Rights Act 2025 (c.36), legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36; gov.uk parental leave announcement; The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Parental and Paternity Leave) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/15; Acas guidance.

What changes on 1 January 2027

These are not day-one rights, but they reshape the early-employment relationship and need planning now.

1. Unfair dismissal qualifying period drops to six months. The two-year qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal reduces to six months. It did not become a day-one right. Plan for the timing: an employee already in post, or hired up to around the end of June 2026, will have six months’ service by 1 January 2027 and gain protection at that point.
2. Fire and rehire becomes automatically unfair. Dismissing an employee for refusing a restricted variation to terms such as pay, hours, holiday or pension is automatically unfair in most cases, with a narrow exception for extreme financial difficulty. Any plan to change terms needs a compliant process.
3. The cap on unfair dismissal compensation is removed. The statutory cap is abolished, which raises the financial exposure on a successful claim.
4. Further 2027 protections. Enhanced dismissal protection for pregnancy and maternity returners, a new statutory unpaid bereavement leave, and mandatory action plans for employers with 250 or more staff.

Sources: Employment Rights Act 2025 (c.36), legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36; Acas guidance.

What HR should action now

Enforcement and why preparation matters

Employment rights are enforced through the employment tribunal, brought by employees, and the Act also created the Fair Work Agency, a single state enforcement body that began on 7 April 2026 with powers covering areas such as the national minimum wage, statutory sick pay and holiday pay, including the power to inspect workplaces, issue notices and bring proceedings. For an SME the practical exposure is a claim the business cannot defend because the early-employment process was not followed, and with the unfair dismissal compensation cap removed from 2027, the cost of getting it wrong rises. The documented, fair process is the protection, and it has to be in place before the right commences, not after the first claim.

Sources: Employment Rights Act 2025 (c.36), legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36; Acas guidance.

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed: 31 May 2026  ·  Next scheduled review: 30 June 2026  ·  Updated within 30 days of legislative change.