ERA implementation for April 2026
Implementation provisions and transitional arrangements for implementation of several new ERA provisions have been issued. The key features include:
• Collective redundancy protective awards: Employers will face increased exposure because protective awards will double from 90 to 180 days’ pay. The regulations confirm that this applies to dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026, but the regulations are not as clear as they could be so we recommend that employers with collective redundancy exercises which involve dismissal dates straddling this date should take advice on the impact of the transitional provisions.
• Annual leave and pay record keeping: Regulations introduce, without prior indication, a duty on employers to keep records of both annual leave entitlements and pay and to retain those records for six years. Employers commit an offence, punishable with a fine, if they fail to comply. Employers must keep records that “are adequate to show compliance”. The government did not previously signal an implementation date for this requirement. While record-keeping in relation to pay is required, record-keeping about leave entitlement may need to be beefed up.
• Trade union recognition process changes: The following changes to the recognition process will take effect:
o Unions applying for recognition will no longer need to show, at the time of applying to the Central Arbitration Committee, that a majority of workers in the bargaining unit would likely support recognition;
o In a ballot on whether to approve recognition, a simple majority of those voting will suffice - unions will no longer need to secure support from at least 40% of the entire bargaining unit; and
o The CAC may accept a recognition application from a union even where another union previously held recognition without a certificate of independence (i.e. “sweetheart deals”).
o Transitional provisions apply where the union submitted the recognition application or request before 6 April or where the CAC notified the parties of the ballot before that date.
Some other recognition changes will not take effect in April. These include:
o The ability to reduce the threshold for recognition applications from 10% union membership to as low as 2%;
o The exclusion of workers who join the bargaining unit after a recognition application for certain purposes;
o A new framework requiring employers and unions to agree access arrangements within a maximum of 20 days during recognition or derecognition processes; and
o A duty on employers to disclose, within five working days of a statutory application, the number of workers in a proposed bargaining unit.
The government has not announced an alternative date for these further reforms and may implement them alongside industrial relations reforms planned for 1 October.
• Whistleblowing and sexual harassment: The regulations expand the list of matters that qualify as protected disclosures to include disclosures about sexual harassment.
• Fair Work Agency: The government will bring most of the statutory framework for the FWA into force on 7 April, one day after the main April reforms. This week, ministers appointed nine members to the inaugural FWA Advisory Board. They selected board members with independent, employer and trade union backgrounds to ensure the FWA’s work reflects the real experiences of businesses, workers and victims of labour exploitation. The FWA will combine several existing enforcement bodies, including the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Unit, into a single enforcement system.
• Other 6 April reforms
For completeness, although there are no updates this week, remember other 6 April reforms affecting paternity leave, unpaid parental leave, bereaved partner’s bereavement leave and voluntary equality action plans.
Sick pay guidance
From 6 April 2026, new Statutory Sick Pay rules come into force. SSP will be payable from day one, with a pro-rated payment for lower earners. Most employers are aware of that change. But perhaps not everyone has yet thought about what happens when an employee is already off sick before the new rules come into play. The government has issued helpful new SSP guidance. Where a sickness absence straddles 6 April, starting before and ending on or after that date, employers will need to work out which rules apply to which portion of the absence. Now is a good time to:
• audit current absences to identify anyone already off sick and when their absence began;
• check with your payroll provider - the calculation may not be straightforward; and
• update absence policies referring to SSP along with template letters.
It does require active thought, particularly for those employees already absent due to ill-health.
Government progresses mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting
The government issued its response to the 2025 consultation on mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, signalling a major step towards the forthcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The response highlights that, despite progress, ethnic minority and disabled people continue to experience lower employment rates, limited progression opportunities and persistent pay gaps. Better data is viewed as essential to understanding and addressing these inequalities, and mandatory reporting aims to help employers identify structural barriers. The proposed framework closely mirrors the existing gender pay gap regime. Employers with 250 or more employees in Great Britain will be required to report six pay gap measures for both ethnicity and disability, publish workforce composition data and disclose declaration rates. They must also develop action plans to explain how they intend to close identified gaps. Reporting will follow the same timetable and use the same online platform as gender pay gap reporting, with enforcement by the EHRC.
For ethnicity reporting, data collection will follow GSS harmonised standards and will be aggregated into five broad ethnic groups. Employers must report a binary comparison, White (including White Other) against all other groups, and where thresholds are met, comparisons between the five broad groups. Disability reporting will require a binary comparison of disabled and non disabled employees, using the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability. The consultation revealed strong support for mandatory reporting, and indicative legislative clauses are included. Guidance and practical tools will follow, alongside continued engagement with employers and stakeholders.
Financial services regulator publishes non-financial misconduct guidance
The FCA published a brief guide on how firms can get ready for new rules and guidance to help tackle non-financial misconduct. The brief FCA guide on NFM pulls together resources and gives a short checklist of what firms should and should not be doing before the changes come into effect on 1 September 2026.
Pinsent Masons marks Neurodiversity Week
Last week our Neurodiversity Network hosted informal breakfasts across the firm to mark Neurodiversity Week, giving colleagues the opportunity to come together for open, honest conversations about neurodiversity and lived experience. As our Neurodiversity Network co lead, reminded us, even people who share the same neurodivergence can experience it in very different ways. Taking the time to ask how it affects someone personally, and doing so with respect, can make a meaningful difference. Throughout the week, we focused on listening, gathering feedback and reflecting on how we continue building a more neuro inclusive workplace for all. Employers interested in neurodiversity may be interested in Acas resources which were signposted by Acas this month when it launched survey findings that over one-third of workers (35%) think that their employer is ineffective at training managers to support neurodiversity at work.
You can also sign up for our 9 June Employment Law+ interactive webinar: Neurodiversity, disability and reasonable adjustments at work.
