A new website has been launched by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) offering practical guidance and support on the changes that the Employment Rights Act will introduce and what they can do to get ready.
The website provides details of upcoming changes, including several that come into force from April 2026. These include:
- Statutory Sick Pay - No earnings threshold and no three-day waiting period mean more employees will now qualify.
- Day-one family leave - Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave a right from the first day in a job.
- Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave - A new right for time off following the death of a child’s mother or primary adopter.
- Collective redundancy protections - The protective award for non-compliance is being increased.
- Stronger protections for workers who report sexual harassment.
- A new body called the Fair Work Agency will work to uphold workers’ rights and support businesses with compliance.
The website includes details on how to prepare for changes and a timeline of when further changes will be introduced. It can be found here and would be well worth saving to your browser favourites
The government has published a technical consultation on its new Founders’ Relief. The consultation itself provides an overview of the proposed qualifying conditions for it, including individual and company requirements and what must be satisfied. HMRC’s own figures, however, show that the strict conditions mean only about 600 individuals will be eligible to apply each year.
It’s bad news for mortgage holders and borrowers as the Bank of England (BoE) raises interest rates by a quarter point to 4% for the first time since August 2023.
