Employment Rights Bill Update

Welcome to the second update on our series of updates on the Employment Rights Bill. The Bill has not reached Royal Assent, meaning nothing is yet set in stone. As the Bill moves through Parliament, we will be providing monthly updates on the likely impact on you, topic by topic. The Bill is currently going through parliament. 

Our second update is to do with the proposed changes around Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), the introduction of The Fair Work Agency, and new updates regarding record keeping. 

Proposed Dates: Spring 2026

• Removal of three-day waiting period for SSP and the removal of the earnings threshold. 

• Requirement to keep records showing compliance with Statutory Holiday Entitlement and Pay. 

• The introduction of The Fair Work Agency, established to enforce employees’ rights. 

How are the potential changes for SSP likely to work?

There are a couple of proposed changes with regards to SSP, and these are set out as follows:

• Removal of the current three-day waiting period, meaning higher sickness costs for businesses for all sporadic absences. Where previously, an employee only qualified for SSP on the 4^th day of absence, SSP will now be payable from day 1.  

• Removal of the earnings threshold for SSP. Where an employee previously was only eligible for SSP if they earned above the rate of SSP (currently £118.75 per week as of 6^th April 2025), an employee who earns under this will now be entitled to 80% of their weekly pay.

Employers’ should ensure they have robust sickness absence policies and processes in place to help manage absences from the workplace.

How is this potential change for record keeping likely to work?

• Employers’ will now be required to keep records showing compliance with the rules around statutory holiday entitlement (currently 5.6 weeks) and pay for at least 6 years. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence.  

How is the establishment of The Fair Worker Agency likely to work?

• The Fair Work Agency will bring together the work of existing agencies and enforce rights such as holiday pay, statutory sick pay, national minimum wage, unpaid tribunal awards and other duties such as the new holiday recordkeeping dutyas explained above. 

• The Agency will also have wide-ranging powers, including power to require information, enter premises, enforce holiday pay and SSP, issue penalties, bring claims on behalf of workers and recover enforcement costs.

Employers’ should ensure they have processes and systems in place to hold records of holiday taken and paid for all employees. We offer personalised services around handbooks/policies and we will be in contact with our clients to discuss how we can help you ensure you have implemented what you need within your business. 

Breathe HR allows employers and employees to see their annual holiday entitlement, book holiday and ensures accurate record keeping, ensuring businesses stay compliant, offering employee burn out monitors, highlighting employees who have not taken holiday in a longer period of time, allowing you to act in a proactive manner. 

Please contact us for more details on Breathe HR.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Next month we will be covering where businesses should be one year on following the changes to Sexual Harassment Laws.