Absence and Leave
An Overview of the Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces significant reforms impacting various aspects of absence and leave, including statutory sick pay, parental leave, paternity leave, and the introduction of a new statutory right to bereavement leave. These changes aim to enhance employee protections and provide greater flexibility, requiring employers to review and update their policies and practices to ensure compliance and fair treatment.
Is Your Business Ready for the Biggest Shift in Employment Law?
What's New? Key Changes at a Glance
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Removal of Lower Earnings Limit and waiting days, making SSP accessible from day one for more employees.
Parental and Paternity Leave: Becomes a day-one right, removing previous service requirements.
Bereavement Leave: Introduction of a new statutory right to unpaid leave, extended to include miscarriage before 24 weeks.
These changes are part of a broader reform to employment law, aiming to provide greater protection and flexibility for employees. Employers will need to adapt their policies and procedures to align with the new statutory requirements..
How to Prepare: Actions for Employers
To ensure compliance and smooth transition with the new Employment Rights Act 2025 regarding absence and leave, employers should take the following steps:
Review and Update Policies: Thoroughly revise existing sickness, family leave, and bereavement policies to reflect the new legal requirements, especially concerning eligibility and pay.
Communicate Changes: Clearly inform employees about their updated rights and any new procedures for requesting leave.
Train Management: Provide comprehensive training to HR and line managers on the changes to ensure consistent and lawful application of the new rules.
System Adjustments: Ensure payroll and HR systems are updated to correctly process SSP, parental leave, paternity leave, and bereavement leave in accordance with the new legislation.
Seek Expert Advice: Book a demo or talk to sales and discover how CIPD HR-inform can help protect your business.
Manage All Leave Types Effectively
With multiple changes to leave entitlements, having clear, compliant, and accessible policies is more important than ever. CIPD HR-inform Pro helps you manage all forms of absence, from sickness to family leave, with expert guidance and up-to-date document templates.
Sickness and Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
The Act introduces major reforms to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) to widen eligibility. The two key changes are:
The Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) threshold will be removed, giving more low-paid workers access to SSP.
The three "waiting days" will be scrapped, meaning SSP will be payable from the first day of sickness absence.
These changes will increase the amount of sick pay that employers are required to manage. For more details, see the full page on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Leave for Family Reasons
The Act makes several types of family-related leave easier to access by removing service requirements.
Paternity and Parental Leave
Both Paternity Leave and Parental Leave will become day-one rights from 6 April 2026, meaning employees no longer need a minimum period of service to qualify.
Time Off for Dependants
This is a separate, existing right that allows employees to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant (such as a child, partner, or parent). While not changed by the 2025 Act, it remains a key part of an employer's absence policy. It is for unforeseen emergencies, which makes it different from Parental Leave, which is for pre-planned time off.
Bereavement Leave
A significant addition in the Act is a new statutory right to unpaid bereavement leave. This formalises the right to time off following a death and, importantly, extends this right to employees who have experienced a miscarriage before the 24th week of pregnancy.
Read more on the New Statutory Right to Bereavement Leave page.
Employment Rights Act 2025 Download a summary
After more than a year of debate, the Employment Rights Bill became law on 18 December 2025 as the Employment Rights Act 2025. This is the biggest shake-up of employment law in a generation, with over 28 changes rolling out between December 2025 and into 2027. While this phased approach to the reforms gives employers time to prepare, now is the moment to get ahead. Explore what’s changing and what it means for your organisation, including key updates on sickness absence, paternity leave, parental leave, trade union access, and more.
Prepare for the Employment Rights Act 2025
The Employment Rights Act 2025 ushers in the most significant changes to UK employment law in a generation. Our CIPD HR-inform Pro product service is designed to be your essential guide, providing comprehensive resources, expert advice, and practical tools to ensure your business remains compliant and agile.
WARNING: New Fair Work Agency Powers!
The new Fair Work Agency is set to dramatically change the landscape of employment law enforcement. With unprecedented powers to recover underpayments and initiate tribunal claims on behalf of employees, your business could face significant financial penalties and legal battles if you're not fully compliant.
Are You a Small Business Owner?
You didn't start a business to become an employment lawyer. The Employment Rights Act 2025 adds layers of complexity to hiring and managing staff. CIPD HR-inform Pro acts as your virtual HR department, giving you the contracts, policies, and answers you need, so you can focus on growth
HR Managers are Busy Enough
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest legislative shift in years. You need more than just news; you need actionable tools. CIPD HR-inform Pro provides the technical breakdowns, the model policies, and the strategic roadmaps to help you guide your leadership team through these changes with confidence.