Parental Leave Changes Coming in April 2026 — What SMEs Need to Know
Significant updates to parental leave take effect on 6 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. For SMEs with limited HR support, understanding these changes early is essential to stay compliant and keep things running smoothly.
What’s changing:
From 6 April 2026, both paternity leave and unpaid parental leave become day-one rights. Employees will no longer need to meet the current qualifying periods of 26 weeks’ service (paternity) or one full year (unpaid parental leave) — both thresholds are being removed entirely.
For babies due between 5 April and 25 July 2026, employees only need to give 28 days’ notice rather than the usual 15 weeks. Notice for both types of leave can be given from 18 February 2026 for leave taken on or after 6 April. These rights apply to children born or placed for adoption on or after 6 April 2026.
Importantly, while the leave becomes a day-one right, the pay rules do not change. Employees will still need to meet existing earnings and service requirements for Statutory Paternity Pay.
What SME employers should be doing now:
- Review your policies. Any references to 26 weeks’ or one year’s service will become inaccurate from 6 April. Update handbooks and onboarding materials before the deadline.
- Prepare for requests from new starters. Employees who join shortly before becoming parents may now request leave much sooner than you’re used to. Think now about how to manage that.
- Train your managers. Line managers are often the first point of contact. They need to understand that qualifying periods no longer apply and that notice rules temporarily change for April–July due dates.
- Create a simple internal process. Decide who employees should notify, what information they need to provide and where requests should be recorded.
- Think about cover. SMEs feel absences more sharply. Even basic cross-training can help you manage leave more smoothly once the new rights take effect.
How Acuity HR can help:
We can review and update your parental leave policies so everything is compliant and manager-friendly.
We can help you plan for staffing gaps and build simple processes to manage requests smoothly.
We can provide ready-to-use employee communication templates and guidance.
We can train your managers so they feel confident handling requests under the new rules.