The Employment Rights Act 2025: Day-One Rights are here, what do employers need to know?

The Day-One Rights: In force on 6 April 2026

In April 2026, the Government delivered day-one rights to statutory sick pay and paternity leave. The reforms also extended day-one rights to unpaid parental leave. Together, these changes represented a fundamental shift in how employment rights are accrued, moving away from service-based qualifying periods towards immediate entitlement from the first day of employment.

Statutory Sick Pay

Current Legal Position

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is the minimum statutory payment an employee is entitled to for periods where they are unable to work due to illness. To be eligible, an individual must be classed as an eligible employee and must have average weekly earnings at or above the Lower Earnings Limit (£125 per week in 2025-26). Those that are eligible are only paid from their fourth working day of sickness absence.

This means up to 1.3 million low-paid workers are not eligible for SSP and no employee receives SSP for absences of fewer than four days.

The Changes

ERA removed the Lower Earnings Limit, making SSP available to all employees regardless of their weekly earnings. The rate of SSP was 80% of an employee's earnings or the current flat rate (£123.25 from 6 April 2026), whichever is lower.

ERA also removed the three waiting days from the SSP system, so that eligible employees were entitled to SSP from their first full day of sickness absence, rather than the fourth.

These changes commenced on 6 April 2026.

Impact on Employers

The financial impact is real and measurable. The cost of removing waiting days and the Lower Earnings Limit (with a percentage rate of 80%) to businesses is an additional £450 million annually, approximately £15 more per employee. Around 25% of all employees currently receive only SSP during a period of sickness absence, meaning these individuals now receive sick pay from their first day of absence.

Employers in sectors with high numbers of low-paid or part-time workers, such as social care, were particularly affected, as workers who previously fell below the Lower Earnings Limit are now entitled to SSP.

Day-One Right to Paternity Leave

Current Legal Position

Previously an employee had to work for their employer for 26 weeks before they were eligible for Paternity Leave. Also, the law did not allow for Paternity Leave and Pay to be taken after Shared Parental Leave and Pay.

The Changes

ERA made Paternity Leave a "day one" right for all employees, subject to them providing their employer with the correct notice. This meant that employees were eligible without needing to have worked for their employer for any particular time frame. The 26-week qualifying period for Paternity Pay was unchanged.

The day-one right was available to employed parents of babies with an Expected Week of Childbirth on or after 5 April 2026, born on or after 6 April 2026, or children placed for adoption on or after 6 April 2026.

ERA also removed the restriction on taking Paternity Leave and Pay after taking Shared Parental Leave and Pay, providing more flexibility for employees to take advantage of the different types of leave available to them to care for their child.

Importantly, to ease the transition, the Government introduced a transition period for newly eligible parents taking Paternity Leave, temporarily shortening the notice period to 28 days so that they could take leave from 6 April 2026. From 18 February 2026 newly eligible parents were able to give notice of their intention to take leave.

Additionally, bereaved partners also benefited from new rights under the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024, which also came into force on 6 April 2026. Bereaved partners were able to take an extended period of leave where the mother or primary adopter died within a year of birth/adoption. This leave was known as Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave, it was unpaid and it was a day-one right.

Impact on Employers

Approximately 30,000 additional partners were brought into scope of Paternity Leave each year. This meant a meaningful uplift in the number of employees exercising Paternity Leave rights from day one of their employment, which employers needed to plan and budget for.

Day-One Right to Unpaid Parental Leave

Current Legal Position

Under the previous regime, employees had to accrue one year's service before they qualified for Unpaid Parental Leave.

The Changes

Unpaid Parental Leave became a day-one right, with parents being able to benefit from this entitlement for babies born on or after 6 April 2026, or due on or after 5 April 2026. The 21-day notice period remained unchanged.

Impact on Employers

As a result of the ERA, approximately 1.5 million parents were brought into scope of Unpaid Parental Leave each year. The scale of this change is significant. Employers with higher staff turnover were disproportionately affected as workers who previously would not have qualified due to short service levels are now immediately entitled to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child.

Bereavement Leave (coming in 2027)

ERA established an entitlement to Bereavement Leave as a day-one unpaid right for employees to grieve the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss that occurs before 24 weeks of pregnancy. Forthcoming regulations will specify exactly who will be eligible and the necessary relationship to the deceased, details of which are still being developed through consultation (the consultation closed on 15 January 2026). There is currently no statutory right for employees to take bereavement leave following a death, except for parents who lose a child aged under 18, or stillborn from 24 weeks.

Preparing your organisation

With 6 April 2026 now passed, employers should take preparatory steps:

1. Review and update sickness absence policies. Policies will need to reflect the removal of the three waiting days and the extension of SSP eligibility to all employees regardless of earnings. Payroll systems and calculations will also need to be updated to apply the new SSP rate (80% of earnings or the flat rate, whichever is lower) to lower-earning employees from the first day of absence.
2. Review paternity leave and parental leave policies. Policies currently tied to a 26-week or one-year qualifying period are unlawful from 6 April 2026. These must be amended to reflect day-one entitlement for all eligible employees. Employers should also update their policies to permit employees to take Paternity Leave following Shared Parental Leave.
3. Update employment contracts and handbooks. Any contractual provisions or staff handbooks that reference the old qualifying periods for paternity or parental leave should be revised.
4. Train HR and management teams. Those responsible for managing absence and family leave must be made aware of the new entitlements so that requests are handled lawfully from 6 April 2026 onwards.
5. Prepare for early notice from newly eligible employees. Newly eligible parents were able to give notice of their intention to take Paternity Leave from 18 February 2026. Employers should be ready to receive and process such notices.
6. Budget for increased costs. The additional cost to business of the SSP reforms is around £15 per employee. Finance teams should model the impact for the business, particularly in sectors with large numbers of low-paid workers.
7. Start planning for bereavement leave. Although extended bereavement leave is not expected until 2027, employers should begin reviewing their current compassionate leave arrangements and consider whether enhancements are appropriate ahead of the statutory entitlement coming into force.

Key takeaways

The day-one rights that came into force on 6 April 2026 marked a significant change in employment law. Employers should act promptly. Reviewing policies, updating systems, and training staff will mitigate the risk of non-compliance and help businesses adapt smoothly to what is a significant re calibration of the employment rights landscape.