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This article highlights the key employment law developments employers need to be aware of during 2026, including important changes to Right to Work checks coming into force from 1 October 2026, a new Acas draft Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, which is in consultation at the time of writing, and likely to be in force in the autumn 2026.

We also cover the annual changes to statutory rates in Apri 2026 and our one page Employment Law Factsheet provides an overview of the key statutory rates, payments and employment tribunal compensation limits effective from April 2026. Download and bookmark this for reference.

As well as these changes, the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA), which was enacted in December 2025 introduces significant wider reforms to employment law. Several key ERA measures are already in force from April 2026, with further reforms due to be implemented in October 2026 and throughout 2027.

For a very practical guide on all the ERA reforms and steps employers need to take to remain compliant, see our dedicated article Implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025: a practical guide for employers.

For completeness, we have included in this article the key ERA measures that came into force from April 2026, with links to the sections in our practical guide where further detail is available.

Right to work checks: significant changes from 1 October 2026

On 16 July 2026, the Home Office published its draft updated Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks, ahead of significant changes to the Right to Work regime coming into force on 1 October 2026.

Employers are already required to carry out right to work checks before employing someone, to protect themselves from civil penalties if that person does not have the legal right to work in the UK. The penalties are substantial, currently up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat breaches.

From 1 October, the regime will reach significantly beyond traditional employment relationships and apply to a much wider range of working arrangements. The changes also introduce the concept of extended liability, meaning that in certain labour supply arrangements a business may be liable for a civil penalty even where it does not directly employ or engage that individual.

Our guide, Right to Work checks: wider obligations, risks and how to protect your business explains which working arrangements are affected, how extended liability may arise and the practical steps you can take to protect your business.
If your business engages workers through agencies, subcontractors or via online labour platforms, you must audit your workforce arrangements and familiarise yourself with the new regime and Home Office’s draft Employer’s Guide before it takes effect.

Acas Code on disciplinary and grievance procedures: significant changes ahead

Acas has published a substantially revised draft Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, the first full rewrite of the Code since 2009. The consultation closes on 23 September 2026.

The draft places much greater emphasis on resolving workplace concerns early and informally and introduces important changes around reasonable adjustments, suspension, mediation and manager training. It also replaces “employee” with “worker” throughout much of the Code, potentially widening its practical application.

Importantly, informal resolution is brought within the statutory Code itself for the first time. This means employers will need to give greater consideration to whether workplace concerns can be resolved informally before moving to formal disciplinary or grievance procedures.

For more detail, our article Draft revised Acas Code on disciplinary and grievance procedures: explains explains the key changes, what they mean in practice and what employers may need to change when the final Code is published.

Employment Rights Act 2025: Changes from April 2026.

For further details, see our guide to implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025.

• The Fair Work Agency became operational, bringing together existing employment rights enforcement functions and giving the Government greater powers to enforce workplace rights, including holiday pay and SSP.
• Statutory sick pay (SSP) becomes a day 1 right, as above.
• Unpaid parental and statutory paternity leave became a day 1 right.
• The restriction on taking paternity leave after a period of shared parental lave was removed.
• The maximum protective award for collective redundancies doubled from 90 to 180 days for dismissals on or after 6 April.
• Employees who report sexual harassment benefit from enhanced whistleblowing protection. For further detail, see our article to implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025.
• Trade union recognition process is simplified, making it much easier for unions to require employers to recognise them for collective bargaining on pay and conditions.
• Large employers (those with 250+ employees) can choose voluntarily to publish equality action plans (which will become mandatory from 2027) alongside their gender pay gap data. Plans must focus on reducing the gender pay gap and supporting staff through the menopause. The Government has published a suite of guidance and list of actions to assist employers in preparing their plans.

Looking ahead to October 2026, the next significant phase of the Employment Rights Act reforms comes into force, including the doubling of the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims from three to six months (from 1st october 2026) and tighter employer obligations to prevent sexual harassment at work.

You should now be preparing for these changes. Please see our Implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025 A Practical Guide for Employers, for a rundown of the October reforms, their practical impact and steps you should take now.

We appreciate the challenges that current employment law reforms are creating for employerss. Our role is to cut through the complexity, explain what the reforms mean in practice and help you implement the changes swiftly and with confidence to remain compliant in a changing landscape. If you have any questions or need advice, please get in touch.

Annual increases from April 2026

1. April 2026 annual increases to National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

The increases to the younger age bands continue the Government’s longer-term objective of moving towards a single adult rate for workers aged 18 and over. The 18-to-20-year-old rate has seen particularly significant increases over the last two years as part of that policy. The Employment Rights Act will eventually remove what the Government describes as “discriminatory age bands” so that all adults of 18 and over are entitled to the same minimum wage.

Download our one-page factsheet providing an overview of the key statutory rates, payments and employment tribunal compensation limits from April 2026.

2. April 2026 annual increases to statutory payments

Statutory maternity pay rises £187.18 to £194.32 per week from 5th April 2026.

Statutory paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental bereavement and neonatal care pay similarly rise from £187.18 to £194.32 per week from 6th April.

Statutory sick pay rises from £118.75 to £123.25 per week from 6th April 2026.

Note that under the Employment Rights Act 2025, from 6th April 2026, SSP is paid from day 1 of sickness, with the removal of the 3 day waiting period and the removal of the lower earnings threshold to qualify. The rate of SSP is now set at whichever is the lower of the flat rate (£123.25 per week) or 80% of the employee’s weekly income. Ensure payroll systems reflect this and, plan for an increase in short term sicknes absence, and more SSP costs.

3. April 2026 increases to compensation limits and minimum amounts that apply regarding certain tribunal awards

The cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal also increases from £118,223 to £123,543 (or 52 weeks’ pay, whichever is lower).
Remember that the cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal is being abolished for dismissals occurring on or after January 2027.

The limit on a week’s pay used for calculating the unfair dismissal basic award, and statutory redundancy pay among other things, increases from £719 to £751.