2026 is a significant year for UK HR legislation, with a wave of employment, immigration, data protection and international compliance changes taking effect. For HR professionals, the challenge is not simply knowing what has changed, but understanding how these new rules affect policies, contracts, line manager training, recruitment processes, workforce planning and cross-border hiring.
The most important changes come from the Employment Rights Act 2025, which is being introduced in phases across 2026 and 2027. Alongside this, HR teams also need to keep an eye on right to work checks, Skilled Worker visa rules, digital immigration status, data protection reforms, international pay transparency requirements and AI regulation affecting recruitment and people management.
For companies that recruit internationally, operate overseas, or employ people across multiple jurisdictions, 2026 is a year to review HR compliance as a whole rather than treating each change in isolation.
1. Employment Rights Act 2025: the biggest UK HR change in 2026
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the central employment law development for UK HR teams in 2026. It introduces a series of changes designed to strengthen worker protections, improve enforcement and reshape the balance between employer flexibility and employee rights.
Some measures have already taken effect, while others are due later in 2026 or in 2027. This means HR teams need a phased implementation plan rather than a one-off policy update.
Several Employment Rights Act factsheets are available as PDF downloads from the UK Government website.
2. Statutory Sick Pay: wider entitlement from April 2026
From April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay has changed so that more employees qualify. The removal of the Lower Earnings Limit and the waiting period means eligible employees can receive SSP from the first day of sickness absence.
For HR teams, this has practical implications for absence policies, payroll systems, manager guidance and budgeting. Employers should check whether their sickness absence procedures, payroll rules and employee handbooks reflect the updated entitlement.
It is also a good moment to review how sickness absence is managed more broadly. Line managers should understand the difference between short-term absence, long-term absence, disability-related absence and recurring patterns of absence that may require support or reasonable adjustments.
3. Day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
Another important April 2026 change is the introduction of day-one rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. Employees no longer need to build up a qualifying period before becoming eligible for these rights.
This will affect onboarding, family leave policies and workforce planning. Employers should make sure new starters are informed of their rights accurately and that HR systems do not automatically reject requests because an employee is still in their probationary period.
Recruitment teams should also be careful about how they discuss availability, family responsibilities and start dates with candidates. Day-one rights mean that family leave should be treated as a normal part of workforce planning, not as an exception for longer-serving employees.
4. Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave
A further change from April 2026 is Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave. This gives eligible bereaved fathers and partners the right to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave where the child’s mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life.
Although this will affect relatively few employees, it is a highly sensitive area. HR teams should ensure policies are clear, compassionate and easy to apply. Managers should not be expected to improvise in these circumstances, so guidance should explain what support is available, who handles the process, and how pay, leave and communications should be managed.
5. Collective redundancy: higher protective award risk
From April 2026, the maximum protective award for failures in collective redundancy consultation has doubled. This increases the financial risk for employers that do not meet collective consultation obligations.
For HR professionals, this makes early planning even more important. Employers considering restructuring, site closures or large-scale redundancies should involve HR and legal advisers early, before final decisions are made. Consultation processes, election of representatives, information sharing, scoring criteria and communication plans all need to be carefully documented.
This is especially relevant for organisations with multiple sites or international parent companies, where redundancy decisions may be influenced by global strategy. UK consultation duties still need to be followed properly, even where decisions are being driven from outside the UK.
6. Stronger whistleblowing protection for reports of sexual harassment
The Employment Rights Act has also strengthened whistleblowing protections for workers who report sexual harassment. HR teams should treat this as part of a broader shift towards stronger workplace accountability.
Employers should review whistleblowing policies, anti-harassment policies and grievance procedures to ensure employees have clear routes to raise concerns. It should also be clear that victimisation or retaliation against someone who reports sexual harassment will not be tolerated.
This is an area where training matters. HR should ensure managers understand how to respond to complaints, when to escalate them, how to protect confidentiality and how to avoid behaviour that could be seen as retaliatory.
7. Sexual harassment prevention: “all reasonable steps” from October 2026
From October 2026, employers will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees. There will also be an obligation on employers not to permit harassment of employees by third parties.
This is a major development for HR because it raises the bar from reactive complaint handling to proactive prevention. A policy alone is unlikely to be enough. Employers should be able to show that they have assessed risks, trained staff, communicated standards, acted on complaints and taken practical steps to reduce harassment risks.
Third-party harassment is especially important for employers whose staff deal with customers, clients, patients, service users, contractors, suppliers or members of the public. HR teams should consider how harassment risks arise in different working environments, including hospitality, retail, healthcare, transport, education, professional services and remote working contexts.
Practical steps may include updated policies, manager training, employee awareness training, supplier and customer conduct standards, incident reporting channels, risk assessments and clearer escalation routes.
8. Holiday pay record keeping
From April 2026, employers are required to keep adequate records to show compliance with holiday pay and holiday entitlement rules. These records must be retained for six years.
This will matter for HR, payroll and finance teams. Employers should check that they can demonstrate how holiday entitlement and holiday pay have been calculated, especially for workers with variable hours, irregular hours, commission, overtime or changing work patterns.
The practical risk is that a business may believe it has paid holiday correctly, but be unable to evidence this later. HR should therefore work with payroll providers and HR software teams to check data retention, calculation methods and audit trails.
There is a comprehensive Acas guide to holiday entitlement and record keeping on their website.
9. Gender equality and menopause action plans
From April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees are encouraged to publish action plans setting out steps they are taking to reduce their gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause. Mandatory requirements are expected to follow in 2027.
Forward-looking employers should not wait. Gender pay gap action plans and menopause support are increasingly part of both legal compliance and employer brand. HR teams should review existing gender pay data, promotion processes, flexible working arrangements, manager training, health and wellbeing support, and the experiences of women in midlife and senior roles.
For employers that recruit internationally, this also links to wider pay transparency expectations, particularly in Europe.
10. Trade union and industrial relations changes
Several trade union measures are being introduced in 2026, including simplified requirements around industrial action, electronic and workplace balloting, and from October 2026, a duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.
Employers with unionised workforces will need to review their industrial relations approach. Employers without recognised unions should still pay attention, as the duty to inform workers of their rights may affect onboarding documents, contracts, handbooks and internal communications.
HR teams should also train managers to respond appropriately to union-related questions and activity. A poorly handled response can create unnecessary legal and employee relations risk.
11. Employment tribunal time limits
Employment tribunal time limits are due to change no earlier than October 2026. The direction of travel is towards longer time limits for bringing claims, which means employers may face a longer period of exposure after workplace disputes, dismissals or grievances.
For HR, this increases the importance of good record keeping. Investigation notes, grievance outcomes, disciplinary documentation, redundancy consultation records, performance management evidence and settlement discussions should be carefully retained.
It also means employers should take early dispute resolution seriously. Poorly handled complaints may remain live for longer, and employees may have more time to seek advice before bringing a claim.
12. January 2027 changes that HR must prepare for during 2026
Some of the biggest changes are scheduled for January 2027, but HR teams need to prepare in 2026. These include a reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months and the uncapping of compensatory awards.
This will make probation management more important. Employers should review probation clauses, performance review processes, manager training and dismissal procedures. A casual or undocumented approach to probation could become more risky.
HR should also review template contracts, offer letters and probation extension processes. Managers need to understand that early employment decisions should still be fair, evidenced and consistent.
13. Right to work checks and digital immigration status
Right to work compliance remains a major issue for UK employers in 2026. Employers must carry out checks before employment begins and must follow the correct process to establish a statutory excuse against civil penalties.
The move towards digital immigration status, including eVisas, means HR teams should ensure they are using current Home Office guidance and not relying on outdated document checks. GOV.UK guidance has clarified that expired physical Biometric Residence Permits are not acceptable proof of right to work.
For HR teams, the key risk is inconsistency. Employers should have a clear right to work process, train everyone involved in recruitment, and ensure checks are completed before work starts. They should also avoid discriminatory practices, such as applying more onerous checks to candidates because of nationality, ethnicity, accent or name.
14. Skilled Worker visa rules and international recruitment
UK employers recruiting internationally should also review Skilled Worker visa requirements. Salary thresholds and occupation eligibility rules are central to whether a role can be sponsored.
The usual Skilled Worker salary requirement is now at least £41,700 per year or the going rate for the role, whichever is higher. Some roles and applicants may qualify under lower salary rules, including certain roles on the Immigration Salary List, some younger applicants, recent graduates, PhD holders and specific healthcare or education roles.
For HR teams, this means international recruitment planning must start earlier. Before advertising a role internationally, employers should check whether the role is eligible, whether the salary is high enough, whether the organisation has a sponsor licence, and whether the candidate can realistically meet visa requirements.
This also affects workforce planning. Roles that were previously viable for sponsorship may no longer meet the salary or eligibility requirements, which can change recruitment strategy, pay benchmarking and location decisions.
15. Electronic Travel Authorisation and overseas visitors
The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme affects visitors who do not need a visa for short stays and do not already have UK immigration status. An ETA is not a visa and does not give permission to work, but it may affect business travel, interviews, meetings, short visits and overseas colleagues coming to the UK.
HR and mobility teams should make sure international visitors understand whether they need an ETA before travelling. This is particularly relevant for global employers bringing candidates, executives or overseas colleagues to the UK for meetings, training or assessment days.
It is important not to confuse permission to travel with permission to work. Business visitor rules, right to work rules and sponsored work routes remain separate issues.
16. Data Use and Access Act 2025: HR data, SARs and automated decisions
The Data Use and Access Act 2025 updates parts of the UK’s data protection regime, with changes phased in between 2025 and 2026. For HR, the most relevant areas include subject access requests, automated decision-making, data protection complaints and international data transfers.
The Act clarifies that organisations only need to make reasonable and proportionate searches when responding to subject access requests. This may help employers dealing with broad or complex employee SARs, but it does not remove the need for a careful and documented process.
The Act also changes the framework for significant automated decision-making. This is particularly relevant where HR teams use technology for CV screening, candidate ranking, performance analytics, absence triggers, workforce planning or employee monitoring. Employers still need appropriate safeguards, and special category data remains more protected.
HR teams should work with data protection leads to review HR technology, privacy notices, data retention schedules, automated decision-making safeguards, and internal complaint handling processes.
17. EU Pay Transparency Directive: important for UK employers with European operations
Although the UK is no longer an EU Member State, the EU Pay Transparency Directive is highly relevant for UK-based employers with EU operations, EU employees, European subsidiaries, or cross-border recruitment.
EU Member States must transpose the Directive into national law by 7 June 2026. The rules are designed to improve pay transparency and equal pay enforcement. They include requirements around salary transparency in recruitment, employee rights to pay information, gender pay gap reporting and action where unexplained gaps exceed certain thresholds.
UK employers with European operations should review job adverts, salary bands, pay governance, job evaluation frameworks and gender pay analysis. Even UK-only employers may feel indirect pressure, as candidates increasingly expect salary transparency and consistent pay practices across borders.
For multinational HR teams, 2026 is a good time to align pay structures and recruitment practices before different EU Member States introduce their own national versions of the rules.
18. EU AI Act: recruitment and HR technology
The EU AI Act matters for UK employers that use AI tools in the EU, recruit EU candidates, operate EU subsidiaries or buy HR technology from providers serving the European market.
AI tools used in employment, worker management and access to self-employment are treated as high-risk in the EU framework. This includes tools such as CV screening software, recruitment ranking systems and other AI systems that affect employment opportunities or worker management.
The EU AI Act also includes transparency rules and obligations around risk management, data quality, documentation, human oversight, accuracy and cybersecurity. Even where full high-risk employment obligations are being phased under updated timelines, HR teams should act now rather than waiting until enforcement begins.
Practical steps include creating an inventory of AI tools used in HR, asking suppliers how their systems work, checking for bias and discrimination risks, ensuring human oversight, updating candidate notices, and documenting decisions.
What HR teams should do now
The volume of legal change in 2026 means HR teams should prioritise action rather than simply tracking updates. A practical compliance plan should include:
- Review employment contracts, handbooks and policy documents.
- Update sickness absence, family leave, whistleblowing, harassment and redundancy procedures.
- Train managers on sexual harassment prevention, family leave rights, probation management and grievance handling.
- Audit right to work processes and international recruitment procedures.
- Review HR systems for holiday pay records, absence data, visa tracking and document retention.
- Check HR technology for automated decision-making, AI use and data protection risks.
- Prepare for pay transparency expectations, especially if the business operates in Europe.
- Improve record keeping across disciplinary, grievance, redundancy and performance processes.
- Build a 2026 to 2027 employment law implementation calendar.
- Work closely with legal, payroll, finance, data protection and senior leadership teams.
Summary
For UK HR professionals, 2026 is not a normal year of minor employment law updates. It is a year of structural change across worker rights, enforcement, family leave, sick pay, harassment prevention, immigration compliance, HR data and international regulation.
The most effective HR teams will treat these changes as an opportunity to modernise their people processes. That means clearer policies, better manager training, stronger documentation, fairer recruitment, improved pay governance and more careful use of technology.
For organisations that recruit internationally or operate across borders, the task is even broader. UK employment law changes now sit alongside immigration reform, EU pay transparency rules, AI regulation and data protection updates. HR teams that act early will be better placed to reduce legal risk, support managers and build a fairer, more transparent workplace.