The April 2026 Wave: What Has Changed?
On 6 April 2026, a major tranche of provisions under the Employment Rights Act 2025 came into force - widely regarded as the most significant reform of UK employment law since the Employment Rights Act 1996. For small and medium-sized businesses, the changes touch nearly every aspect of the employment relationship, from contracts and flexible working to dismissal procedures and collective consultation. It's a lot to take in.
If you haven't already audited your contracts, policies and HR processes, the time to act is now. Non-compliance carries real risk: employment tribunal claims, reputational damage, and - in some cases - criminal liability.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms are not optional enhancements. They are legal obligations. Every SME with at least one employee needs to review its practices against the new requirements.
Key Changes Now in Force from 6 April 2026
1. Day-One Unfair Dismissal Rights
Perhaps the most headline-grabbing change: employees now have the right not to be unfairly dismissed from their first day of employment. The previous two-year qualifying period has been removed for most dismissals. Full stop.
This does not mean you can never dismiss a new employee - fair procedures and genuine fair reasons still apply. However, employers can no longer rely on the qualifying period as a procedural safety net. A statutory probationary period framework has been introduced alongside this change, allowing employers to follow a lighter-touch (but still fair) process during an employee's initial period, typically the first nine months. Tribunals will assess whether a reasonable employer would have acted in the same way.
Action required: Review your probationary period policies and ensure all managers are trained to document performance concerns, hold review meetings, and follow fair processes from day one.
2. Strengthened Flexible Working Rights
The right to request flexible working was already a day-one right following the 2023 reforms, but the Employment Rights Act 2025 goes further. Employers must now demonstrate that a refusal is reasonable - not merely that one of the eight statutory grounds applies. The burden has effectively shifted, requiring employers to actively evidence why a flexible arrangement cannot be accommodated. Frustratingly for some businesses, a simple tick-box approach to refusals will no longer cut it.
Additionally, employers are now required to suggest alternative arrangements where an outright refusal would otherwise apply.
Action required: Update your flexible working policy and decision-making framework. Ensure line managers document the business case for any refusal in detail.
3. Zero-Hours and Low-Hours Contract Reforms
Workers on zero-hours or low-hours contracts who work regular and predictable hours over a qualifying reference period now have the right to be offered a guaranteed-hours contract that reflects their actual working pattern. Employers must make this offer at the end of each relevant reference period.
Anti-avoidance provisions prevent businesses from deliberately varying hours to circumvent the threshold. Unreasonable failure to make the offer, or penalising workers who accept it, will expose businesses to tribunal claims.
Action required: Audit your workforce for workers on variable-hours arrangements. Implement a tracking mechanism to identify when the guaranteed-hours obligation is triggered.
4. Strengthened Protections Against Dismissal During Pregnancy and Family Leave
The protected period during which dismissal is automatically unfair has been extended. Employees are now protected from dismissal not only during maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, but also from the point they notify their employer of a pregnancy and for a period of 18 months following the birth or adoption of a child.
This significantly extends existing protections under the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 and - it's worth noting - aligns the law with longstanding EHRC guidance that many employers were already trying to follow in spirit.
Action required: Train managers on these extended protected periods. Review your redundancy selection and dismissal procedures to ensure they account for the new timelines.
5. Collective Redundancy Threshold Changes
The Employment Rights Act 2025 amends the collective redundancy consultation rules under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA). Crucially, the threshold for triggering the 45-day minimum consultation period is now calculated across an employer's entire organisation, not site by site.
This closes the loophole previously used by multi-site employers to avoid the longer consultation period by keeping redundancy numbers below 100 at each individual location. It's a significant shift for businesses with dispersed operations.
Action required: If your business has multiple locations and is planning any restructuring, legal advice should be taken early. Your HR processes must now account for organisation-wide headcount when assessing consultation obligations.
6. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) Reforms
The waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay has been abolished - SSP is now payable from day one of absence, removing the previous three waiting days. Additionally, the lower earnings limit that previously excluded the lowest-paid workers from SSP eligibility has been removed, bringing more workers within scope. Thankfully, most modern payroll systems can be configured to handle this relatively quickly.
Action required: Update payroll systems and absence management policies immediately. Ensure your SSP calculation and administration processes reflect day-one entitlement.
7. Trade Union Rights and Access
The Act includes significant enhancements to trade union rights, including easier access to workplaces for union representatives, streamlined recognition procedures and restrictions on the use of fire-and-rehire practices. Using dismissal and re-engagement as a negotiating tactic is now unlawful unless the employer can demonstrate it faces genuine financial difficulties that would otherwise threaten the viability of the business.
Action required: If you are considering any contractual variation processes, seek specialist employment law advice before proceeding. The fire-and-rehire provisions carry significant legal risk if misapplied.
What SMEs Should Do Right Now
The breadth of these changes means a piecemeal approach is unlikely to be sufficient. We recommend a structured compliance audit covering the following areas:
- Employment contracts: Review all standard contracts and offer letters, particularly probationary period clauses and hours provisions for variable-hours workers.
- HR policies: Update flexible working, disciplinary, redundancy, maternity/paternity, and sickness absence policies to reflect the new rules.
- Payroll systems: Ensure SSP is being calculated from day one of absence and that all eligible workers are captured.
- Management training: Brief line managers on day-one unfair dismissal rights and the importance of documented, fair procedures from the outset of employment.
- Workforce data: Build a process for tracking hours worked by variable-hours workers to identify when the guaranteed-hours obligation is triggered.
- Redundancy planning: Any planned restructuring should be reviewed against the new organisation-wide collective consultation threshold before any announcement is made.
Looking Ahead: Further Provisions Still to Come
The April 2026 wave is not the end of the road. Several further provisions within the Employment Rights Act 2025 are subject to secondary legislation and are expected to take effect in later tranches through 2026 and 2027. These include reforms to equality action plans, menopause policies and third-party harassment obligations under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 framework.
Businesses should subscribe to updates from ACAS, the Department for Business and Trade, and their employment law advisers to stay ahead of upcoming commencement dates. Don't wait for the next wave to catch you off guard.
Compliance is not a one-off exercise. Build a rolling review process into your HR calendar so that each new tranche of reforms is assessed and embedded before it takes effect.
Final Thoughts
The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents a fundamental shift in the balance of rights between employers and workers in the UK. For SMEs operating with lean HR resource, the compliance burden is real - but so is the risk of getting it wrong. Early action, clear policies and well-trained managers are your best protection against the uptick in tribunal claims that major legislative change typically brings.
If you are unsure whether your business is fully compliant with the April 2026 changes, speak to a qualified employment law solicitor or HR consultant as a priority.