Employment Law Digest February 2026 – Employment Rights Act 2025: What do employers need to do now?

For those of you who have followed its progress from election manifesto, to consultation, to Bill debated in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, ping ponging between the two, you will know that the forthcoming changes the Act brings are widespread and significant.

A drastically shortened qualifying period for unfair dismissal, a ban on dismissal and re-engagement and new rules that significantly limit the ability of employers to use zero hours contracts are all on the horizon, but what do employers need to do now to prepare?

Changes happening in April 2026

Statutory paternity leave and parental leave both become a day one right

This change will mean that polices need to be updated to reflect the new entitlements. The policy changes that will be required are as follows:

• Parental leave policy – removal of reference to 12-month qualifying period for eligibility.
• Paternity policy – removal of reference to 6 month qualifying period for eligibility and the removal of any provision which says the employee cannot take paternity leave if they have already taken a period of shared parental leave in relation to that child.
• Shared parental leave policy – removal of any provision which says that employees cannot take paternity leave if they have already taken shared parental leave.

Statutory sick pay: removal of waiting days and no lower earnings limit

Again, changes will need to be made to HR documentation to account for this as follows:

Sick pay policy:

• Update sick pay provisions (if applicable) to reflect changes to SSP (e.g. removal of reference to three-day qualifying period and Lower Earnings Limit).
• Consider if you want to include wording to adapt, amend and depart from it where appropriate, e.g. during probationary period.

Reports of sexual harassment will amount to whistleblowing

This change specifically categorises reports of sexual harassment as whistleblowing, meaning that individuals who make disclosures of this nature are protected under the whistleblowing legislation. We would suggest taking the following action:

Whistleblowing policy:

• Check and amend wording to update the types of disclosures qualifying for protection that can be raised under the policy: this should specifically reference reports of sexual harassment.

For HR Protect clients:

The changes set out above will be made to all policies on the HR Protect portal by the end of March- simply download the relevant policy to remain compliant. For those who are not yet HR Protect clients, but who are interested in finding out further details, please speak to your usual Ward Hadaway contact or via this enquiry form.

Future changes employers should be thinking about now

Some changes planned for further down the line will have broad ranging implications and we would suggest employers start thinking about these now.

• Probationary periods: from 1 January 2027 the qualifying period for unfair dismissal reduces dramatically from 2 years to 6 months. We advise employers to look at both their recruitment and probationary process to ensure they are robust. Consider having regular reviews during the probationary period, perhaps at 3 and 5 months, to make sure that any issues are dealt with prior to individuals reaching 6 months’ service.
• Contractual variations: the ban on fire and re-hire is due to come into force around October 2026. We would advise employers to look closely at their contracts and build in as much flexibility as possible so that they can make changes within the wording of the contract itself.
• Train managers: managers are crucial to dealing with HR issues effectively. Training managers on how to conduct a robust probationary process will significantly mitigate the potential risks involved in short serving employees gaining protection from unfair dismissal.

How can we prepare?

Significant changes are on their way in the world of employment law and it is crucial for businesses to be aware of what these changes are and when they are due to happen, in order to prepare as much as possible. Our timeline of Employment Rights Act changes can be accessed here.

Further support is provided within our HR Protect retainer package, which will ensure policies and procedures are up to date in line with the impending changes. Now has never been a better time to become an HR Protect client, contact us for further information.