UK enacts Employment Rights Act expanding parental leave and sick pay
Change
UK enacted the Employment Rights Act, granting day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave rights and, from April 2026, extending statutory sick-pay eligibility to about 4.7 million women — including roughly 830,000 workers newly eligible.
Why it matters
Employers must now provide parental leave and paternity rights from an employee's first day and apply statutory sick pay to low‑paid workers who previously fell below the eligibility threshold. That creates binding compliance tasks for HR and payroll teams and requires firms, especially large employers, to implement new workplace policies and plans.
Implications
- • Employers must update employment contracts and HR policies to grant paternity leave and unpaid parental leave effective from employees' first day.
- • Employers' payroll departments must revise eligibility rules and begin paying statutory sick pay to the newly eligible low‑paid workforce from April 2026.
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