About Wallchart

Wallchart is a free key-dates kit for UK employers with fewer than 50 staff, built for the Employment Rights Act 2025 as it comes into force between April 2026 and 2027. It turns start dates and sickness absences into dates: each person’s unfair dismissal qualifying date, probation review deadline and service milestones; Statutory Sick Pay across linked absences; and a dated checklist of documents to update.

How the calculations work

• Service is counted from the first day of employment (Employment Rights Act 1996 s.211; Pacitti Jones v O’Brien), so a period of N months is complete on the day before the N-month anniversary. Where the later month has no matching day (a start on the 31st, or 29 February), the period ends on the last day of that month.
• Unfair dismissal: two years for an effective date of termination before 1 January 2027, six months on or after it (Employment Rights Act 2025 s.25; S.I. 2026/559 regs 3–4). The date shown is the earliest effective date of termination at which the employee has the qualifying service under the rule that applies on that date.
• Probation is contractual. The review deadline is the end of probation minus your lead time, moved back to the previous weekday that is not a bank holiday in the part of the UK you choose.
• SSP: the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 ss.151–157 as amended on 6 April 2026, the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 and the transitional provisions in S.I. 2026/373. Daily amounts follow GOV.UK’s worked examples, which the automated tests reproduce.

Sources and when they were checked

• The Employment Rights Act 2025 as enacted and its commencement regulations (S.I. 2026/373, S.I. 2026/3, S.I. 2026/323, S.I. 2026/954, S.I. 2026/1065, S.I. 2026/559) on legislation.gov.uk — checked 25 October 2026.
• GOV.UK “Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update” (updated 22 October 2026) and SSP employer guidance (updated 6 April 2026).
• Acas “Employment Rights Act 2025” page (updated 20 October 2026) and probation guidance.
• Bank holidays: GOV.UK bank holidays data, fetched 17 October 2026, covering 2024 to 2028.

SSP rates are verified for 2025/26 (£118.75) and 2026/27 (£123.25). The 2027/28 rate had not been announced on 25 October 2026; the calculator carries £123.25 forward and says so.

Limits

• Calculators and checklists, not legal, tax or payroll advice. For a dismissal, a dispute or anything unusual, talk to Acas or an employment solicitor.
• Changes marked “planned” have no commencement regulations yet; their dates and details can change.
• Northern Ireland: the SSP changes apply UK-wide, but the other changes here apply in Great Britain only.
• SSP: the calculator does not check other eligibility conditions (for example recent Employment and Support Allowance, pregnancy-related rules, legal custody, or employment ending) and does not work out average weekly earnings for you.
• Continuous employment can be affected by breaks, transfers (TUPE) and earlier work for an associated employer; the tool assumes service starts on the date you enter.

Contact

Spotted a rule that has changed or a date that looks wrong? Join the beta list on any page and reply to the first email — corrections are read first.