The Employment Rights Act 2025 is no longer on the horizon. The first wave of changes is already in force. Here’s what dental practice leaders need to know right now.
6 April 2026 marked the first major implementation milestone of the Employment Rights Act 2025 — the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in a generation. While the bigger headline reforms (such as day one unfair dismissal rights) are still to come, the changes that landed last month are already affecting how practices need to manage their staff. If you haven’t yet reviewed your policies and payroll processes, now is the time.
Here is a clear breakdown of what has changed and what it means in practice.
Statutory Sick Pay: The Rules Have Changed
This is one of the most immediately practical changes for dental practices. From 6 April, two significant reforms to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) came into force.
The three-day waiting period has been scrapped. Previously, SSP only kicked in from the fourth day of sickness absence. Now it is payable from the first full day. This means that short-term absences — even a single day — may now trigger an SSP entitlement where they didn’t before.
The lower earnings limit has also been removed. Previously, employees needed to earn at least £129 per week to qualify for SSP. That threshold no longer exists. Employees whose earnings fall below what was the lower earnings limit will now receive SSP at 80% of their average weekly earnings (or the standard flat rate, whichever is lower). In practice, this brings part-time staff and lower-paid team members into SSP eligibility for the first time.
What you need to do
Check that your payroll system has been updated to reflect these changes. Make sure your absence management process no longer applies the three-day wait. If you have team members on lower or variable hours, confirm whether they are now eligible for SSP where they were not previously.
Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave Are Now Day One Rights
Until recently, employees needed 26 weeks of service to be eligible for paternity leave, and one year’s service to take unpaid parental leave. Both of those qualifying periods have now been removed.
From 6 April, any employee — regardless of how long they have been with your practice — has the right to take paternity leave and unpaid parental leave from their very first day of employment. This means a new starter could, in theory, request parental leave during their probationary period.
An additional change came with the Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026, also effective from 6 April. Where a child’s primary carer dies within the first year of birth or adoption, the surviving partner now has a day one right to up to 52 weeks of unpaid leave.
What you need to do
Update your leave policies to remove any reference to qualifying periods for paternity or parental leave. Make sure your reception and management team are aware that a new starter asking about parental leave is entitled to it. Bear this in mind when onboarding new team members and factor potential early leave into your staffing planning.
Whistleblowing Protections Have Been Extended
From 6 April, sexual harassment disclosures are now explicitly recognised as a qualifying disclosure under whistleblowing law. This means that if a team member raises concerns about sexual harassment, they have formal protection from detriment or dismissal as a result of doing so — on top of any existing discrimination or harassment protections.
This matters for dental practices because harassment can come from colleagues, but also from patients. If a nurse, receptionist or clinician raises a concern about harassment, how you respond now carries greater legal weight.
What you need to do
Review your whistleblowing policy to ensure it reflects this change. Make sure managers know that concerns about sexual harassment should be handled through formal channels and that the person raising them is protected. This is also a good prompt to review your harassment prevention policy ahead of the further strengthening of the sexual harassment duty due in October 2026.
Collective Redundancy Penalties Have Doubled
If an employer fails to comply with its collective redundancy consultation obligations, the maximum protective award a tribunal can make has doubled — from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay per affected employee.
Collective redundancy consultation is triggered when 20 or more employees at a single establishment are proposed for redundancy within a 90-day period. Most dental practices won’t reach that threshold, but for larger group practices or those going through significant restructuring, the stakes are now considerably higher.
What you need to do
If you are considering any redundancies, take advice before proceeding. Ensure your redundancy procedure is documented and up to date.
Holiday Pay Records Are Now a Legal Requirement
A perhaps less publicised change that also came into force on 6 April is a new duty to keep formal records of annual leave and holiday pay. Records must cover the amount of leave taken, any payments made in lieu of untaken holiday, and how holiday pay was calculated — including for employees on irregular hours or part-year contracts. Records must be kept for six years.
Failure to comply is a criminal offence, and the new Fair Work Agency — which launched on 7 April 2026 — has enforcement powers in this area.
What you need to do
Review how your practice currently records annual leave and holiday pay. If it is managed informally or inconsistently, put a proper system in place now. This is particularly important for practices with part-time or variable-hours staff, where holiday pay calculations can be more complex.
The Fair Work Agency Is Now Live
The Fair Work Agency officially came into being on 7 April 2026. It brings together existing state enforcement functions — including National Minimum Wage enforcement — into a single body, with plans to take on a wider range of employment rights enforcement over time.
For dental practices, this signals a more proactive enforcement environment. Employment rights are no longer solely enforced through individual tribunal claims. There is now a dedicated agency with investigative powers and a mandate to grow.
What you need to do
Familiarise yourself with the Fair Work Agency’s remit as guidance develops. Ensure your pay, records and employment practices are in order — not just to defend against individual claims, but in anticipation of a more active enforcement landscape.
What’s Still to Come
The April changes are just the beginning. Later this year and into 2027, further significant reforms are due:
October 2026 — The duty on employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment (including by third parties such as patients) comes into force, replacing the current “reasonable steps” standard. Tribunal time limits for claims also double from three to six months.
January 2027 — The unfair dismissal qualifying period reduces from two years to six months. The compensation cap on unfair dismissal awards is removed entirely. Restrictions on fire and rehire come into force.
2027 — Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave. Bereavement leave becomes a statutory right. Further flexible working and zero-hours contract reforms.
The most significant of these — day one unfair dismissal rights and the removal of the compensation cap — require action now. If there are performance or conduct concerns with any current team member that have not yet been formally addressed, taking steps in the coming months is considerably more straightforward than it will be from January 2027 onwards.
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A Summary of Actions for Right Now
If you haven’t already done so since 6 April, work through the following:
- Update payroll to pay SSP from day one of absence, with no earnings threshold
- Remove qualifying service requirements from your paternity and parental leave policies
- Brief managers on the extended whistleblowing protections
- Confirm your holiday pay records are being kept in a compliant format and retained for six years
- Review your redundancy procedure if any restructuring is on the horizon
- Begin preparing for October 2026’s strengthened sexual harassment duty
The pace of change under the Employment Rights Act 2025 is significant. The practices that adapt early — rather than reactively — will be best placed to stay compliant and avoid the increasingly costly consequences of getting it wrong.
Further changes are due in October 2026 and throughout 2027. Details on several provisions are still being finalised through secondary legislation and government consultation.
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