Employment Law Changes 2026: What UK Trades Employers Must Do Now

This article is for guidance only. It is not legal advice.

Three rounds of employment law changes are hitting UK trades employers in 2026 and 2027. April 2026 brought day-one SSP, day-one family leave rights and tougher redundancy consultation penalties. October 2026 brings a doubled tribunal claim window and a new written notice requirement. January 2027 brings the qualifying period for unfair dismissal down from two years to six months. If you employ electricians, plumbers, cleaners, landscapers, builders or roofers, here is what changed, what is coming and what you need to do now. For the full picture of the legislation behind these changes, read the guide to the Employment Rights Act 2025.

What changed in April 2026

Day-one SSP

Statutory Sick Pay now applies from the first qualifying day of sickness. The three-day waiting period is gone. The lower earnings limit that previously excluded many part-time and casual workers has also been removed.

For a cleaning company with staff on variable hours or a landscaping business with operatives earning below the old threshold, every sick day now costs SSP from day one. Remove any reference to the old waiting period from your sickness absence policy and update your payroll calculation.

Day-one family leave rights

The qualifying period for statutory paternity leave was 26 weeks. It is now zero. A new plumbing apprentice who starts on Monday and whose partner gives birth that week is entitled to paternity leave from that first week.

The qualifying period for parental leave was one year. It is now zero. Any employee with parental responsibility for a child under 18 can take unpaid parental leave from their first day of work.

Any employment contract that still references qualifying periods for paternity or parental leave is legally inaccurate from April 2026. Update every contract template before your next hire.

Redundancy consultation penalty increase

The Employment Rights Act 2025 increased the maximum protective award for failures in collective redundancy consultation from 90 days' pay to 180 days' pay per affected employee. This applies to employers making 20 or more redundancies within 90 days.

For most small trades businesses making individual redundancies, this does not apply. For a larger cleaning or facilities management business making multiple redundancies across a site, it does.

What changes in October 2026

Extended tribunal claim window

For trades employers, a doubled claim window means:

• →A dismissed electrician who was uncertain about bringing a claim now has twice as long to take advice and decide
• →An employee not paid their final holiday pay correctly has twice as long to bring a wages claim
• →A builder let go without the correct process has twice as long to contact ACAS and begin early conciliation

The practical effect is a material increase in the number of claims brought over time. Every dismissal and every final pay calculation needs to be correct.

Trade union rights notice in Section 1 statements

From October 2026, written employment particulars (the Section 1 statement you must give every employee from their first day) must include a written notice of trade union rights. The statement must inform employees that they have the right to join a trade union.

This is an administrative change. Update your contract template before October 2026 to include a brief paragraph on trade union rights.

What changes in January 2027

This is the change that matters most for small trades employers.

From January 2027, employees can bring an unfair dismissal claim after just six months of continuous employment. The qualifying period drops from two years to six months. A full explanation of the January 2027 change and what it costs to get wrong is in the guide to the unfair dismissal qualifying period 2027.

The statutory initial period

The Act introduces a statutory initial period of up to nine months for new hires. During this window, a lighter-touch dismissal process applies. You still need to give a reason, allow the employee to respond and act fairly. After nine months, the full ACAS code of practice applies.

A probation period of six or nine months with documented reviews and clear written objectives is the practical response to the January 2027 change. A three-month probation period is no longer sufficient.

What this looks like for a trades employer

For a roofing company that hires a new operative in August 2026:

• →Under current law, they reach two years of service in August 2028. The risk window opens then.
• →Under the January 2027 change, they reach six months of service in February 2027. From that point, full unfair dismissal rights apply.

The window to assess a new hire and act if it is not working has shrunk from two years to six months. The requirements - documented probation, performance reviews, written warnings for conduct or capability issues - apply from day one of the employment.

Action checklist for trades employers

Before October 2026

• →Update your Section 1 statement (contract template) to include a trade union rights notice
• →Remove the three-day SSP waiting period from your sickness absence policy
• →Remove qualifying period references for paternity and parental leave from all contracts
• →Check that your holiday pay calculation for zero hours or irregular-hours workers uses the correct 12.07 per cent accrual method

Before January 2027

• →Extend your probation period to six or nine months and update your employment contracts
• →Ensure your disciplinary procedure follows the ACAS code from month one of employment, not just for long-serving staff
• →Set written performance objectives for every new hire from day one
• →Hold and document a formal mid-probation review for every hire made from July 2026 onwards
• →Brief your foremen, site managers and supervisors: the assumption that you can exit a hire freely in their first two years is gone from January 2027

Starting now

For an electrician taking on a new apprentice, a cleaning company managing casual staff or a builder with a labourer on a zero hours contract: the documentation you create in the first month of employment is your protection if the employment ends badly. Notes of informal conversations, signed probation objective sheets and a correctly written disciplinary letter are worth far more than months of assumptions about the qualifying period.