Saviour Anieti
May 28, 2026

New Employment Law Changes That Could Cost You £60,000

If you are running a care home, domiciliary service or supported living in the UK right now, your to-do list just got a lot more dangerous.

As of April 6th 2026, the old way of handling staff, waiting a few days to pay sick leave or being a bit loose with contract updates, is not just bad practice anymore. It is a legal landmine.

We are not talking about small fines. We are talking about protective awards that have doubled to 180 days’ pay and other changes that carry £60,000+ price tags if you get them wrong.

If you have not updated your handbook in the last 48 hours, you are already behind.

Here are the new employment law changes you need to abide with to protect your service, your staff and your sanity.

1. Sick Pay from Day One

The four day waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is gone, the old lower earnings limit as well, so even bank staff, zero-hour workers and irregular part-timers now qualify in most cases.

So, from April 2026 if a staff member calls in sick they get paid from the very first minute of that absence.

In a sector like care where sickness rates are already some of the highest in the UK, this is a massive financial hit. The government estimates these changes will cost employers hundreds of millions per year across all sectors. But the real danger is not just the extra money on the payroll. The danger is how you manage the person when they come back.

The expert view is clear. Most managers see someone missing shifts and think they just have a business to run so they move to sack them. That is a trap. If you do not ask the right questions you are walking straight into a disability discrimination claim. These claims are unlimited. You could be looking at £60,000 to £70,000 because you did not do a proper return to work meeting.

You have to ask about medication. You have to ask about the root cause. If they have a condition like sleep apnea or they are on meds that make them drowsy you cannot just fire them for performance issues. That is discrimination.

What you must do;

Update sickness/absence policy and contract immediately. Remove any reference to a three or four-day waiting period to avoid breaking the law.
Make return-to-work interviews non-negotiable. Introduce or strengthen a trigger system. For example, 3 absences in a rolling 6 months period triggers a welfare/return-to-work discussion. Use the Bradford Factor if it fits your service better, but don’t rely on it blindly.
Enquire about the reason for absence. Ask questions, find out if there is an underlying health issue. Ignorance is no defense in an employment tribunal.

Build better contingency. This includes cross-training staff, growing your reliable bank pool, and planning for more overtime or agency use in the short term.

Pro Tip: If someone returns after two or three weeks and performance dips, don’t just dismiss. Document the questions you asked and adjustments considered.

2. Day one Rights to Paternity and Parental Leave

Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are now available from the employee’s first day on the job (no more 26 weeks or one year qualifying service for the leave itself). Statutory paternity pay still requires 26 weeks’ service by the 15th week before the due date.

There’s also a new bereaved partner’s paternity leave which is up to 52 weeks unpaid in certain cases if the mother/primary adopter dies within the first year.

So for a care service already struggling with rotas, this adds another layer of unpredictability. You can no longer assume a new recruit will be fully available for the first six months. You need to be prepared for more frequent absences across your entire team, regardless of how long they have been with you. And CQC will want to see how you’re maintaining continuity of care.

Here’s what’s advised;

Update contracts, handbooks, and family leave policies to reflect day-one eligibility.
Plan for more absences. The same advice as sickness applies, cross-train, maintain a flexible bank, and review your staffing model.
Be crystal clear in policies about pay during any enhanced or additional leave (e.g., neonatal care scenarios). Spell it out to avoid assumptions and awkward conversations later.

3. National Minimum Wage + Statutory Pay Rate

In April 2026 the National Minimum Wage hit its highest level ever. Here are the new numbers for care staff;

Category	Rate (April 2026)
Staff aged 21 and over	£12.71 per hour
Staff aged 18 to 20	£10.85 per hour
Staff aged 16 to 17 and apprentices	£8.00 per hour
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)	Up to £123.25 per week
Statutory maternity and paternity pay	Up to £194.32 per week

Aside from the numbers, the priority for care employers is to avoid violating the National Minimum Wage compliance which may happen by common deductions.

If you require staff to pay for their own business clothing, safety boots, or DBS checks, you must be extremely careful. If those costs taken from a paycheck push a worker’s effective pay below £12.71 for even one hour, you are in breach of the law.

Here are the compliance steps to take;

Audit your payroll deductions. Look for staff members whose take home pay after uniform or kit costs is close to the minimum threshold.
Build a bank pool of staff to avoid reliance on expensive emergency agencies.
Review your rate cards. If your labor costs are going up by 10% or 15%, you cannot keep your service fees the same.
Invest in retention because it’s cheaper to keep a good staff member than to hire a new one.

4. The Fair Works Agency (FWA)

There is a new player on the field called the Fair Works Agency, launched on the 7th of April 2026. Think of them as the employment law version of the Health and Safety Executive. They have the power to investigate your service and launch a tribunal claim on an employee’s behalf without that worker even being involved.

For care managers, this is a massive shift. Historically, if you made a mistake with a staff member’s pay, you only had to worry if that specific person raised a grievance. Those days are over. The Fair Works Agency will be looking for sectors with high numbers of sponsored workers and history of pay disputes. The care sector is right at the top of their list.

The danger here is the snowball effect. If the agency finds you have underpaid one sponsored worker or got their holiday pay wrong, they will not stop there. They will audit your entire workforce. What starts as a small £5,000 correction for one person can quickly balloon into a £60,000–£80,000+ collective claim once they backdate the errors for every staff member you have.

What you must do;

Audit your pay for all sponsored staff right now. Ensure you’re meeting the minimum salary thresholds even during sickness or leave.
Review deductions (uniforms, safety boots, etc.). If they push anyone below the National Minimum Wage, you’re exposed. Include clear deduction clauses in contracts and handbooks.
Update payroll processes and keep excellent records. The FWA can initiate tribunal claims itself.

5. Harassment and Third Parties

Sexual harassment is no longer just a grievance issue. It is now a whistleblowing disclosure. This means that if a staff member reports harassment, they are legally protected as a whistleblower.

As an employer, you now have a mandatory legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment before it happens.

Even more critical is third party harassment. This includes harassment from service users, their families, or contractors. If your staff are being harassed by the people they care for and you have not taken steps to prevent it, you are liable. Tribunals can now increase compensation by up to 25% if they find you failed in this preventative duty.

Here’s an action plan

Move beyond the paper policy and show active prevention.
Create a third party protocol. Spell out exactly what a carer should do if a service user or a relative crosses the line.
Use signage or leaflets for service users and families that clearly state your zero tolerance approach to staff harassment.
Assess every role to identify where staff are most at risk and put protective measures in place.

Next Steps for Care Providers

Being that the UK care sector is being watched by both the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the new Fair Works Agency (FWA), the margin for error has disappeared. Staying compliant is no longer about being a good employer. It is about survival.

If you have not looked at your contracts since the start of April, now is the time to act. Tighten your policies, train your managers to ask the right questions, and make sure your payroll is watertight.

If you need further support;

👉 Download free Employment Law Factsheet

👉 Train Your Managers to Ask the Right Questions

If you have specific questions or a situation that feels high risk, you can reach out to HR Expert, Caine Keeling Treasure directly for advice.