The first major implementation milestone for Employment Rights Act 2025 is coming on 6th April 2025. In a piece of legislation running at 289 pages, it is all too easy to get bogged down in the detail. Here is our guide to the changes coming in April that employers need to be acting on now:

  • Paternity leave becomes a day one right. However, the eligibility rules for statutory paternity pay remain the same (i.e. it will only be payable if the employee has 26 weeks’ service at the 15th week before EWC (or matching week for adoption) and has earnings above the lower earnings threshold in the 8-week period prior to 15th week before EWC). Policies need to be updated to remove any reference to there being a 26-week qualifying period before employees can take paternity leave.
  • Paternity leave will be able to be taken after a period of Shared Parental Leave. If an employee chooses to take a period of Shared Parental Leave first, before taking any paternity leave, they will be able to take their paternity leave following their return (provided it is taken within 52 weeks of birth/placement for adoption). Any reference, in either a Paternity Policy or Shared Parental Leave Policy to this being precluded should be removed.
  • Parental Leave becomes a day one right. Policies need to be updated to remove reference to the current eligibility requirement of one year’s service. 
  • Statutory sick pay (SSP) will be paid from the first day of illness, instead of the fourth day. The lower earnings limit will also be removed. The amount of SSP payable will be the lower of the statutory rate of SSP from time to time (currently £118.75 per week but due to rise in April, reportedly to £123.25 per week) and 80% of the employee’s normal weekly earnings. Payroll systems will need to be updated for the change, as will any sick pay policies. It is also worth checking contracts of employment as they may include reference to waiting days. If they do, consider issuing a variation letter to current employees explaining the changes being made from April 2026. Update any template terms and conditions to be issued to new staff going forward to reflect the change.
  • Reporting sexual harassment will become a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law. Any Whistleblowing Policy will need to be updated to reflect this as a separate and specific potentially protected disclosure. It is also useful to update training materials for managers to make it clear that reprisals against those who make sexual harassment allegations are not acceptable – leaning into the increased risk associated with such conduct now that the making of such allegations attracts whistleblower protection.

There are other ERA 2025 changes coming into force in April 2026 but, for the most part, they do not require any immediate action on the part of HR teams. The maximum protective award in a collective redundancy situation will increase from 90 days to 180 days per employee but the legal requirements for collective consultation remain the same, at least for now. Likewise, there will be changes to the way in which trade unions go about gaining recognition. However, they will not require any pro-active changes by the employer – they just change the framework within which the recognition process operates.

With the ERA 2025, it is all too easy to get bogged down in the detail – and, in a 289 page piece of legislation, there is a lot of that. Taking these changes step by step, pausing to consider whether or not they are relevant to your business and what you need to do pro-actively now to assimilate them into business operations, is a sensible and pragmatic approach. 

About Jon Dunkley

Jon Dunkley is a Partner at Wollens and heads up the firm’s Regulatory Department. Based at our North Devon office, Jon is a highly experienced solicitor with a broad commercial and regulatory practice, supporting businesses, professionals and senior employees across a wide range of legal issues.

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Jon is a Partner at Wollens and can advise you. Contact Jon via email jon.dunkley@wollens.co.uk or call 01271 341021.

Jon Dunkley - Wollens Solicitors Devon

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