The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents one of the most significant shifts in UK employment law in decades. As these reforms begin rolling out across 2026 and 2027, businesses of every size will need to rethink processes, policies and people management practices. While legislation often bring uncertainty, it also offers an opportunity to strengthen our foundations, prepare early and continue building a workplace than champions fairness, clarity and trust.
At Strategi Solutions, we are taking a proactive approach to both our own teams and for the clients we support every day. In this blog I want to highlight what’s changing, why it matters and how we can all prepare with confidence.
Day-one Rights
Starting April 2026, employees will have day one rights for:
- Paternity leave
- Unpaid parental leave
Alongside these changes, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will shift dramatically as the three day waiting period is removed, the lower earning limit disappears and SSP will be payable from day one. It will also be paid at 80% of average earnings or the statutory rate, whichever is lower.
For employers, this means planning for higher short‑notice absences and ensuring internal systems are ready to manage the increase in early‑service rights.
Strengthened Family Support & Financial Responsibilities
April also brings expanded protections for families, including up to 52 weeks of paternity leave for bereaved partners and the removal of restrictions around paternity leave following Shared Parental Leave.
There are significant financial implications too:
- Protective awards for collective redundancy increase from 90 to 180 days’ pay.
- The new Fair Work Agency launches on 7th April 2026 with wide‑reaching enforcement powers covering NMW, holiday pay, SSP, and more.
We will all need to be ready for greater scrutiny, greater transparency, and greater accountability.
Changes for October 2026
From October, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
There will also be renewed obligations around trade union access and a doubling of the Employment Tribunal time limit from three to six months.
For all leaders, the message is, prevention, training, and strong culture matter more than ever.
Changes for 2027
January 2027 marks another major turning point.
- “Fire and rehire” becomes automatically unfair dismissal for changes to core terms, unless an organisation is in extreme financial distress.
- The unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from two years to six months.
- The cap on unfair dismissal compensation will be removed.
Additional reforms include:
- Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans for organisations with 250+ employees
- Stronger protections for pregnant workers
- Revised rules around flexible working
- New collective redundancy thresholds
- Zero-hours reforms
These changes fundamentally shift the balance toward earlier employee protection, and they require leaders to invest in better training, documentation, and people management capability.
What Employers Should Do Now
At Strategi Solutions, we’re advising all employers, including ourselves to begin preparing early:
1. Update Policies and Contracts
Ensure contracts reflect new rights and prepare updated policies across sickness, flexible working, harassment, and whistleblowing.
2. Develop Manager Capability
Managers will need to confidently handle:
- Early service dismissal risks
- Union engagement
- Harassment prevention
- Clear documentation and performance management
3. Strengthen Workforce Planning
Expect higher absence levels and ensure HR systems and payroll processes are ready for new SSP and statutory rates.
4. Prioritise Compliance
With the Fair Work Agency introducing enhanced enforcement, now is the time to check NMW, holiday pay, and internal reporting channels.
How We’re Supporting Businesses Through the Changes
Navigating this level of reform is complex, but you don’t need to do it alone. Our HR Services team is already supporting clients with:
- Workforce audits
- Policy and contract updates
- Management training
- HR systems readiness
- Ongoing guidance on compliance
We know how difficult changing your ways of working can be. We have put together a package to audit your current policies and procedures, update, implement and train your staff, all for £2,150 ex vat. Find out more here.
If you’d like to discuss this further with our HR Services Manager, please email [email protected]
By acting now, we can reduce disruption, protect our people, and continue building workplaces where fairness and respect are the norm and not the exception and continue building workplaces where fairness and respect are the norm, not the exception.
