I am sure that a lot of business owners are busy trying to get to grips with all the new employment law changes that are coming ahead.
As usual, the new financial year welcomes changes and I felt that it would be handy for you to have a summary of the key employment-related changes.
The National Living Wage rate of £12.21 per hour for workers aged 21 and over will increase to £12.71.
The National Minimum Wage for workers aged between 18 and 20 will increase from £10.00 to £10.85 per hour.
The National Minimum Wage for workers aged under 18 will increase from £7.55 to £8.00 per hour.
The Apprentice rate will also increase to a rate of £8.00 per hour.
From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay will increase from £118.75 per week to £123.35 per week or 80% of the employee’s average weekly earnings.
Please note that statutory sick pay will be payable from day one of sickness. The three-day waiting period and lower earnings limit is to be removed.
The statutory maternity and adoption weekly pay rate following the first 6 weeks at 90% of an employee’s normal weekly earnings will increase from £187.18 to £194.32 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) on 5 April 2026.
The same weekly rate applies to those receiving statutory paternity pay, maternity allowance, shared parental, parental bereavement leave pay and neonatal care leave pay.
From 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will become a day one right for employees, so it is worth reviewing and updating any policies to reflect this.
From 6 April 2026, the maximum statutory redundancy payment an employee can receive will increase to £22,530.
The maximum basic award for an unfair dismissal claim will also increase to £22,530.
When calculating an employee’s statutory redundancy entitlement, the maximum gross weekly pay will increase from £719 to £751.
From the 6 April 2026, the statutory cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal claims will increase from £118,223 to £123,543.
Please note that this cap will remain in place until 1 January 2027 at which point it will be removed entirely due to forthcoming legislative changes. This will also be the date that the qualifying period required for unfair dismissal claims will reduce from 2 years’ service to 6 months.
From 6 April 2026, the values of the “Vento” bands used to assess an employee’s injury to feelings as a result of discrimination in the workplace will increase and is shown in the table below.
| Vento Band | Claims issued 6 April 2025- 5 April 2026 | Claims issued 6 April 2026- 5 April 2027 |
| Lower band (less serious cases, such as where the act of discrimination is an isolated or one-off occurrence) | £1,200 – £12,100 | £1,300 – £12,600 |
| Middle band (serious cases, which do not merit an award in the highest band) | £12,100 – £36,400 | £12,600 – £37,700 |
| Top band (the most serious cases, such as where there has been a lengthy campaign of discriminatory harassment) | £36,400 – £60,700 | £37,700 – £62,900 |
| Exceptional cases | Above £60,700 | Above £62,900 |
From 6 April 2026, the protective award for failing to collectively consult with 20 or more employees made redundant within a 90-day period will increase from 90 days’ gross pay to 180 days’ gross pay.
We recommend that you review and update your internal processes including any forms and spreadsheets containing staff pay rates to reflect the changes to the rates of pay. It might also be prudent to make contact with your accounts staff or your accountant who deals with payroll to ensure that they have up to date pay rates for all staff to avoid any administrational errors and inconvenience to staff.
We certainly recommend that you consider updating employment contracts for current staff if these have not been updated for some time and to ensure that their pay meets the national minimum rates.
If you are in the midst of a reorganisation where redundancies are a likely outcome, we recommend you revisit any calculations to ensure that they reflect the increase in the maximum gross weekly pay.
If you wish to discuss these changes further, please do get in contact with us.
Appointments are available by telephone or via video call, so no matter where you are in England or Wales we can assist you.
The information contained in this blog post is provided for guidance and is a snapshot of the law at the time it is written. It is provided for your information only and should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice that it specific to your particular circumstances.
The guidance should not be relied upon in any decision making process. It is strongly recommended that you seek advice before taking action.
Solicitor in Eastleigh | Solicitor in Salisbury | Solicitor Isle of Wight
