April 2026 employment law changes: Six-point checklist for HR

Author: Stephen Simpson

In April 2026, HR professionals face the challenge of dealing with business-as-usual employment law changes, such as increases in statutory maternity, paternity and sick pay, while also dealing with a raft of major changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025. We look at what HR needs to do to meet its employment law obligations this spring.

30 March/4 April: Publish your gender pay gap report

Organisations have 12 months to publish their gender pay gap figures from the relevant snapshot date - 31 March for the public sector and 5 April for the private and voluntary sectors.

This means that the gender pay gap reporting deadline is 30 March 2026 for public-sector employers and 4 April 2026 for private-sector and voluntary-sector employers.

Organisations must publish reports on their website and upload the information to the gender pay gap reporting portal on the GOV.UK website.

Employers can choose to provide a narrative around any gender pay gap, including providing an explanation for their pay gap and setting out what steps they are taking to reduce the gap.

1 April: Comply with national minimum wage rises

The rates of the national minimum wage increase on 1 April 2026, including an increase in the national living wage from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour. In addition:

• the rate for workers aged at least 18 but under 21 rises from £10.00 to £10.85 per hour;
• the rate for workers aged 16 to 17 rises from £7.55 to £8.00 per hour; and
• the apprentice rate rises from £7.55 to £8.00 per hour.

Employers should check their pay rates against the new minimum wage rates to ensure that, where necessary, they increase remuneration for the first pay reference period beginning on or after 1 April 2026.

5 April/6 April: Update policies to reflect statutory paternity and ordinary parental leave becoming day-one employment rights

The Employment Rights Act 2025 removes the qualifying periods for paternity leave (currently 26 weeks) and ordinary parental leave (currently one year), making them both day-one rights. It also removes the restriction on employees taking paternity leave and pay after they have taken shared parental leave and pay.

HR professionals need to ensure that existing family-leave policies and procedures are updated to reflect the expanded entitlement.

Use our updated model paternity, ordinary parental and shared parental policies to help your organisation to comply with these changes.

5 April: Increase family-related pay

The weekly rates of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement pay increase to £194.32, up from £187.18. The increases take effect on the first Sunday in April, which in 2026 is 5 April.

The lower earnings threshold to claim family-related support will rise at the same time from £125 to £129 a week.

It is up to HR to make sure that staff on maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement leave are paid these statutory minimum rates.

HR professionals also need to review their policies and procedures that mention the rates, such as their maternity policies and sickness absence procedures.

6 April: Extend eligibility for, and increase the rate of, statutory sick pay (SSP)

The weekly rate of SSP is rising to £123.25, up from £118.75. The lower earnings limit (LEL) will rise from £125 to £129.

At the same time, the Employment Rights Act 2025 makes statutory sick pay available to all workers, by removing:

• the three-day waiting period, so SSP is payable from the first day of a period of sickness rather than the fourth; and
• the requirement to earn at least the LEL.

Since the LEL requirement is being removed, from 6 April employees will be entitled to the current rate of SSP (£123.25) or 80% of their average weekly earnings if that is lower.

There will be transitional arrangements for employees who are already off sick on 6 April or earning less than the LEL who become eligible for statutory sick pay on 6 April.

It is the responsibility of HR to make sure that staff on sick leave are paid these statutory minimum rates.

HR professionals also need to review their policies and procedures that mention the rates, such as their sickness absence procedures.

6 April: Update your statutory redundancy pay calculations

New limits on statutory redundancy pay come into force on 6 April 2026.

Employers that make employees redundant must pay those with two years' service an amount based on the employee's weekly pay, length of service and age.

The weekly pay is subject to a maximum amount, which is currently £719. The new rate is likely to be around £751 although this is yet to be announced. We will update the information here when it is made public.

HR professionals should ensure that calculations for statutory redundancy payments are made on the basis of this new maximum amount for redundancy dismissals on or after 6 April 2026.

What else is happening?

• Sexual harassment added to whistleblowing legislation: From 6 April 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 amends the whistleblowing provisions so that complaints of sexual harassment will be treated as protected disclosures.
• Phase two of trade union law reforms: From 6 April 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 simplifies the union recognition process and provides a period of 20 working days to agree union access during a statutory recognition. For more detail, see our employment law guide on Trade union recognition: recognition process.
• Protective award doubles: From 6 April 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 increases the maximum compensation that a tribunal can award where an employer fails to comply with their collective redundancy consultation obligations (known as the protective award), doubling it from 90 to 180 days' pay.
• Employment tribunal awards: On 6 April 2026, the employment tribunal award limits increase. The new rates have not yet been announced; the current basic award for unfair dismissal is £8,763 and the compensatory award for unfair dismissal is £118,223. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will remove the compensation cap for unfair dismissal on 1 January 2027.
• State pension: On 6 April 2025, the basic state pension increases from £176.45 to £184.90 a week and the new state pension (for those reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2016) will increase from £230.25 to £241.30.
• Fair Work Agency established: The Employment Rights Act 2025 will establish the Fair Work Agency (FWA), a single, consolidated body to monitor and enforce core employment rights. The FWA is established on 7 April 2026.