Several new employment rights will come into effect on 6 April 2026, giving employees additional protections from their very first day of employment.

These changes form part of the Employment Rights Act 2025. While many of the larger reforms will not arrive until 2027, some important updates are being introduced much sooner.

For ecommerce founders who are scaling their business and beginning to hire staff, understanding these changes is important.

Once you move beyond running the business yourself and start employing warehouse staff, customer support teams or marketing employees, employment law becomes a key part of operating the business.

Below is a breakdown of the main changes coming into force in April 2026.
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Statutory Sick Pay Will Start From Day One

One of the biggest changes relates to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

Currently, employees only become eligible for SSP after they have been off sick for four consecutive days. The first three days are known as waiting days and are unpaid.

From 6 April 2026, this waiting period will be removed.

This means employees will be able to receive SSP from the first day of sickness.
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Removal of the earnings threshold

Under the current rules, employees must earn at least £125 per week to qualify for SSP.

This lower earnings limit will be removed, meaning all employees will become eligible for statutory sick pay, regardless of how much they earn.
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New calculation method

Employees who qualify for SSP will receive the lower of:‍

• the statutory SSP rate
• ‍80% of their average weekly earnings

This approach is intended to make sick pay more reflective of an employee’s normal income.
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Managing Sick Leave as an Employer

With SSP becoming easier to access, some employers may find they experience more short-term sickness absences.

This does not necessarily mean employees will abuse the system, but it does make it more important to manage absences properly.

Practical steps many businesses take include:

• asking employees to check in regularly while they are off sick
• holding return-to-work meetings
• keeping accurate records of sickness absence
• monitoring repeated short-term absences

For smaller teams, unexpected absences can have a noticeable operational impact, so having clear procedures in place is important.
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Paternity Leave Will Become a Day One Right

Another significant change affects paternity leave.

Currently, employees must have 26 weeks of continuous service before they can take paternity leave.

From April 2026, paternity leave will become a day one right, meaning employees can access the leave from the start of their employment.

However, the qualifying rules for statutory paternity pay will remain unchanged. This means an employee may be entitled to the leave itself but not necessarily the statutory payment.

The restriction preventing employees from taking paternity leave after taking shared parental leave will also be removed.
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Ordinary Parental Leave Will Also Be Available From Day One

Ordinary parental leave, which is currently unpaid, will also become a day-one entitlement.

At the moment, employees must work for one year before they are able to take this type of leave.

From 6 April 2026, that qualifying period will be removed.

Because this leave is unpaid, the change mainly affects workforce planning rather than payroll costs.
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Bereaved Partner Paternity Leave

Separate legislation will also introduce a new right called bereaved partner paternity leave.

This applies in situations where:

• the mother of a child dies within the first year of the child’s life, or
• the primary adopter dies within the first year following adoption

In these circumstances, the surviving partner will be entitled to up to 52 weeks of leave, depending on when the bereavement occurs.

There is no statutory pay requirement attached to this leave.

The purpose of this change is to provide additional support during extremely difficult circumstances.
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What This Means for Ecommerce Businesses

Many ecommerce founders start by running their business alone.

However, as revenue grows, it often becomes necessary to hire staff. Common early hires include:

• warehouse or fulfilment staff
• customer service employees
• digital marketing specialists
• operations managers

Once employees are involved, employment law becomes an important part of running the business.

For example, an ecommerce company with a small fulfilment team may need to plan carefully for unexpected sickness absences or parental leave, because even one person being unavailable could delay order processing or customer support.

Understanding employment obligations early helps ecommerce founders avoid compliance issues and manage their teams effectively as they scale. If you want help with the numbers side of this, see our ecommerce bookkeeping services.
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Final Thoughts

From 6 April 2026, several employment rights will apply from the first day an employee starts work.

The key changes include:

• statutory sick pay starting from the first day of sickness
• removal of the SSP earnings threshold
• paternity leave becoming a day-one entitlement
• ordinary parental leave becoming a day-one entitlement
• the introduction of bereaved partner paternity leave

If your ecommerce business employs staff, it is worth reviewing your employment policies and HR procedures ahead of these changes.

As your business grows, having the right financial and operational systems in place becomes increasingly important.

If you run an online business selling through platforms like Amazon, Shopify or TikTok Shop, you can learn more about our ecommerce accounting services and how we support ecommerce founders as they scale.

You can jump straight to speaking with a member of our team if you book a Discovery Call here.