A cluster of employment law changes come into effect on 6th April 2026. None of them sits neatly in Human Resources (HR). Each one touches cost, risk, governance and culture.

What is changing and what should you do about it?

Collective redundancy – protective award doubles

The maximum protective award for failure to consult collectively will double. Today, a tribunal can award up to 90 days’ gross pay per affected employee. From April 2026, that ceiling doubles.

A protective award is not compensation for loss. It is a penalty for getting the process wrong. Tribunals use it to punish poor consultation, not merely its absence.

What will this mean in practice?

If you run a large restructuring and cut corners on consultation, your downside risk just doubled. In a 200-person redundancy exercise, even a partial award can run into seven figures.

The trigger point remains 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days. The definition of ‘establishment’ still trips people up. If you stretch it to avoid consultation, expect a challenge.

What should you do now?

• Get legal advice early. Before you fix headcount numbers.
• Build a consultation plan that you can defend, not just achieve.
• Train leaders to engage properly, not to ‘announce and absorb’.
• Keep a clear audit trail of what you considered and why.

If your board pushes for speed, record the risk. Minutes matter when things go wrong.

Day one rights – paternity leave and unpaid parental leave

Employees will gain a day-one right to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave There is no qualifying service.

What will this mean in practice?

You lose the buffer that service requirements gave you. New hires can take leave almost immediately. That affects workforce planning, especially in smaller teams and operational roles.

It also raises fairness questions. Existing employees will compare how you handle new joiners taking leave early in their tenure.

What should you do now?

• Update workforce models to reflect earlier leave take-up.
• Align manager guidance; inconsistency will create grievances.
• Check contracts and policies. Remove outdated service thresholds.

Whistleblowing – sexual harassment focus

Protections for whistleblowers who report sexual harassment will be strengthened. Expect closer scrutiny of how you handle complaints and how you protect those who raise them.

A whistleblower is someone who reports wrongdoing in the public interest. The law protects them from detriment and dismissal.

What will this mean in practice?

The risk here is not the complaint itself, it is how you respond. If you sideline, isolate or manage out the person who raised concerns, you create a second claim that is often stronger than the first.

Reputational damage travels faster than legal process. Senior exits linked to harassment complaints reach the press within days.

What should you do now?

• Separate investigation, decision-making and line management roles.
• Track treatment of the whistleblower after the complaint, not just during the investigation.
• Train senior leaders, not just HR, on how to respond.

Bereaved partners’ paternity leave

Bereaved fathers and partners will be able to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life.

What will this mean in practice?

This is a rare but high-impact scenario. When it arises, your response will define how people view your organisation for years.

The operational challenge is managing long absences at short notice. The cultural risk is far greater. Mishandle this and you will damage trust throughout the workforce.

What should you do now?

• Build a clear, compassionate process; do not improvise.
• Give managers simple guidance because, understandably, they will worry about saying the wrong thing.
• Plan for cover in critical roles.

You will not get a second chance to handle this well.

Statutory sick pay – broader and faster

The lower earnings limit will go. The waiting period will go. Statutory sick pay becomes payable from day one and to a wider group of workers.

What will this mean in practice?

Costs will increase. Absence patterns may shift. You will see more short-term absence paid from day one.

This also changes the dynamic of absence management. Early conversations will matter more. If you wait until patterns emerge, you are already behind.

What should you do now?

• Model the financial impact. Do not rely on historic absence data.
• Tighten absence reporting and review processes.
• Train managers to have early, sensible conversations.

Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Overly rigid trigger points will create issues with employee relations.

Trade union recognition – simpler process

The process for trade union recognition will become simpler. Expect unions to test this.

Recognition gives a union the right to negotiate on pay, hours and holidays on behalf of a defined group of workers.

What will this mean in practice?

If you have latent workforce issues, they are more likely to convert into organised activity. Once a union gains recognition, you lose some flexibility over how you set terms.

This is not about being pro- or anti-union. It is about control and predictability.

What should you do now?

• Assess employee sentiment honestly, not through filtered reports.
• Address underlying issues. Do not wait for a formal campaign.
• Prepare a clear response plan if a recognition request lands.

Silence is not a strategy. Employees will fill the gap.

Gender equality action plans and menopause support

The government will encourage employers to publish action plans on gender equality and to support employees through the menopause. These measures are voluntary, but do not assume they will stay that way.

What will this mean in practice?

Investors, regulators and employees may treat ‘voluntary’ as ‘expected’. If you publish data without a plan, you invite criticism.

If you publish a plan and do nothing, you invite worse.

Menopause support sits within a wider conversation about retention, inclusion and performance. Mishandled, it becomes a source of grievances and attrition.

What should you do now?

• Decide at board level whether you will publish your plan, and why.
• Set measurable actions, not broad commitments.
• Assign ownership. Do not leave this floating in HR.

If you choose not to publish, be ready to explain that decision externally.

Menopause guidance

Expect clearer guidance on supporting employees through the menopause. This will not create new rights on its own, but it will influence tribunal expectations.

What will this mean in practice?

Tribunals already consider whether employers acted reasonably. Guidance shapes what ‘reasonable’ looks like. You will be judged against it.

This often intersects with disability law, where symptoms have a substantial and long-term impact. That brings a duty to make reasonable adjustments.

What should you do now?

• Review policies on sickness, performance and adjustments.
• Train managers to recognise issues without making assumptions.
• Document decisions on adjustments and support.

The risk is not the guidance itself. It is an inconsistent application.

Pulling this together

Each of these changes increases the cost of getting decisions wrong. They also increase scrutiny of how you make those decisions.

Three themes run through all of them:

1        Evidence beats intention

You may act in good faith. That will not protect you if you cannot show what you did and why. Keep records. Record any alternatives you considered. Record who made the call.

2        Consistency matters more than policy

Most organisations have decent policies. Fewer apply them consistently. Inconsistent decisions create claims and damage culture.

3        Leadership behaviour is the real risk

These changes land in boardrooms and management meetings, not just in HR. How your leaders communicate, challenge and decide will determine your exposure.

If you take one action, review how your board and senior team make people decisions. Look at speed, challenge and documentation. Adjust that now, before the April 2026 changes force the issue.

The law is changing. Your governance should change with it.

Source: Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update – GOV.UK