Labor rights changes due from Monday are set to affect up to 9. 6 million UK workers, with unions saying the new sick pay rules will ease pressure on lower-income households. The changes form part of the first tranche of rights under the Employment Rights Act 2025 and will alter when and how statutory sick pay is paid. Union analysis says the move has broad public support, even as some businesses warn of strain on already tight budgets.
What changes start from Monday
Under the new rules, about 8. 4 million workers who already rely on statutory sick pay will receive it from the first day they are ill, instead of from day four. Another 1. 2 million workers, who were previously excluded because they earned below the £125-a-week threshold, will become eligible for support. The Trades Union Congress said the change will disproportionately benefit women, disabled employees, and younger and older workers, because those groups are more likely to be in lower-paid or part-time jobs.
The union said the change should remove pressure on families who have had to choose between staying home while ill and losing pay. That argument sits at the centre of the wider Labor Rights debate around how much protection workers should have when sickness disrupts their income.
Labor Rights and the business pushback
Employers are warning that the changes, alongside the wider Employment Rights Act 2025, are adding pressure to balance sheets that are already under strain. Neil Carberry, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said businesses were already dealing with rises in the national minimum wage, payroll tax hikes, and energy price increases linked to the war with Iran. He said those pressures were forcing bosses to cut staff and raise prices to make ends meet.
“We are at a tipping point, ” Carberry said. He added that the new statutory sick pay rules could “cause chaos” if they are not matched quickly with better guidance for firms, and said a small minority of workers may try to defraud businesses. The TUC, meanwhile, said the policy has support across political lines, with 76% of those surveyed backing sick pay from day one.
What the wider law changes mean
The sick pay shift is only one part of the first wave of rights in the Employment Rights Act 2025. The same package is also introducing new protections on sexual harassment, parental leave, and trade union recognition, making Labor Rights a wider issue than sick pay alone.
Official changes to trade union recognition are also now in effect as of 6 April 2026, with unions no longer needing to show that most workers in a proposed bargaining unit are likely to support recognition. Where recognition is decided by ballot, a simple majority of votes cast will now be enough, replacing the former 40% support requirement.
What happens next
The immediate focus is on how employers implement the new sick pay rules from Monday and whether the government issues further guidance for businesses facing the change. The broader Labor Rights package will continue to reshape workplace rules as the Employment Rights Act 2025 beds in, while unions and employers keep pressing their competing case over costs, fairness, and protection.
