The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Statutory Sick Pay) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026

Made: 3rd March 2026

Laid before Parliament: 5th March 2026

Coming into force: 6th April 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the power conferred by section 154(1) of the Employment Rights Act 2025[^f00001].

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Statutory Sick Pay) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 6th April 2026.

• (3) Regulation 1 extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

• (4) Regulation 2 extends to England and Wales and Scotland.

• (5) Regulation 3 extends to Northern Ireland only.

Amendment of the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982

2

• (1) The Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982[^f00002] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 15(2)(b), omit the words from “on the” to the end.

• (3) In regulation 19(2), in the definition of “the critical date”, omit the words from “, or” to the end.

Amendment of the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982

3

• (1) The Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982[^f00003] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 15(2)(b), omit the words from “on the” to the end.

• (3) In regulation 19(2), in the definition of “the critical date”, omit the words from “, or” to the end.

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Diana Johnson — Minister of State — Department for Work and Pensions — 3rd March 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Explanatory Note

These Regulations amend the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 (S.I. 1982/894) (“the 1982 Regulations”) and the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982 (S.R. 1982 No. 263) (“the 1982 Regulations (NI)”), in consequence of sections 10 to 13 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36) (“the 2025 Act”).

Regulation 2 amends the 1982 Regulations to remove a reference to the fourth day of a period of incapacity for work, and to omit the explanation of how the critical date is calculated when an employee earned below the lower earnings limit, to reflect the removal of waiting periods and the lower earnings limit under the 2025 Act. Regulation 3 makes the same amendments to the 1982 Regulations (NI).

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. An impact assessment was produced for the 2025 Act and is available from the House of Commons and House of Lords Libraries. Copies of the impact assessment on the statutory sick pay measures in the 2025 Act are available from the Department for Work and Pensions at Caxton House, Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA, or online: www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2025 c. 36.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1982/894, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00003]: S.R. 1982 No. 263, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.