Employment rights act 2025: Stronger Rights at work From April 6th

Key among these is the new right for low earners to be paid statutory sick pay from the first day they are too ill to work.  Other rights include 

        - A day 1 right to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.

         -The disclosure of sexual harassment in the workplace is treated as a protected disclosure making clear that workers who blow the whistle on sexual harassment will be protected under the whistleblowing provisions.

         -An increase in the maximum protective award from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay for each employee where an employer fails to consult in a collective redundancy situation. 

         -The process for obtaining trade union recognition is simplified, removing unnecessary hurdles and loopholes where the union has majority support.

         -A requirement on employers to keep records showing that workers are given and are paid for the statutory holidays they are entitled to under the Working Time Regulations 1998.

On 7 April 2026 a new labour enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency (FWA) is established which will be responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage (NMW), holiday pay, and modern slavery and labour exploitation laws. It will also be responsible for enforcing statutory sick pay (SSP). 

The Government is also encouraging employers with 250 or more employees to produce and publish equality action plans which address the gender pay gap and set out the support for employees going through the menopause, before they become a mandatory requirement in 2027. 

After a long drawn out debate between the Bill being published on 10 October 2024 and the Act coming into force on 18 December 2025 its good to see legislation that focuses on improving workers and trade union rights finally coming into force.