# Wallchart

> Unfair dismissal qualifying dates, probation reviews, SSP across linked absences and a dated policy checklist for UK firms under 50 staff. Free, in-browser.

- Rules checked against legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK and Acas on 2026-10-25.
- Wallchart is a free browser tool for UK employers with fewer than 50 staff: per-employee unfair dismissal qualifying dates, probation review deadlines, SSP across linked absences and a dated policy checklist. Staff data stays in the browser.
- Unfair dismissal: the qualifying period falls from 2 years to 6 months where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027 (Employment Rights Act 2025 s.25; S.I. 2026/559 regs 3–4). The compensatory award cap is removed the same day.
- Service counts from the first day of employment, so 6 months are complete on the day before the 6-month anniversary (start 15 January 2027 → 14 July 2027). Anyone who started on or before 2 July 2026 is protected from 1 January 2027.
- There is no statutory probation period; probation is contractual (Acas).
- SSP from 6 April 2026: no waiting days, no lower earnings limit, a single day is a period of incapacity for work, and the weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of average weekly earnings (S.I. 2026/373; SSCBA 1992 ss.152, 157). Periods 56 days or less apart link and share one 28-week maximum.
- SSP before 6 April 2026: 3 waiting days per linked series, 4-day minimum period, £118.75 a week (2025/26), earnings of at least £125 a week needed.
- Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are day-one rights from 6 April 2026; statutory paternity pay still needs 26 weeks’ service and £129 a week.
- Employers must keep annual leave records for 6 years from 6 April 2026 (ERA 2025 s.35).
- Employment tribunal time limits rose from 3 to 6 months for events on or after 1 October 2026 (S.I. 2026/954).
- From 30 October 2026 employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including by third parties (ERA 2025 ss.20–21; S.I. 2026/1065).
- Fire and rehire restrictions (GOV.UK: March 2027; Acas: January 2027), bereavement leave (April 2027), flexible working and pregnancy dismissal protection (October 2027) and guaranteed hours (no date) had no commencement regulations as of 25 October 2026.

## Tools

- [Wallchart](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/): Unfair dismissal qualifying dates, probation reviews, SSP across linked absences and a dated policy checklist for UK firms under 50 staff. Free, in-browser.
- [SSP calculator with linked absences](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/ssp-linked-absences-calculator/): Statutory Sick Pay across several absences with linking, old and new rules and the 28-week cap.
- [Unfair dismissal qualifying date calculator](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/unfair-dismissal-qualifying-date-calculator/): Start date in, first protected date under the 2-year and 6-month rules out.
- [Probation review date calculator](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/probation-review-date-calculator/): Review deadline on a working day, checked against the protection date.
- [SSP waiting days rules 2026](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/ssp-waiting-days-rules-2026/): Old and new SSP rules and the 6 April 2026 transitional rules.

## Key dates

- [6 April 2026: SSP from day one: the April 2026 change](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/ssp-day-one-april-2026/): Statutory Sick Pay no longer has three unpaid waiting days or a lower earnings limit. A single day of sickness is now a period of incapacity for work, and the weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of the employee’s average weekly earnings.
- [6 April 2026: Day-one paternity and unpaid parental leave](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/day-one-paternity-and-parental-leave/): Employees can take paternity leave and unpaid parental leave from their first day of employment. The old 26-week (paternity) and one-year (parental leave) service tests are gone for leave — but statutory paternity pay still needs 26 weeks’ service and earnings of at least £129 a week.
- [6 April 2026: Holiday records: the 6-year duty (April 2026)](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/holiday-records-duty/): A new regulation 16B of the Working Time Regulations requires records adequate to show you have complied with statutory annual leave, holiday pay and pay in lieu rules. Records must be kept for six years from when they are made, in any format you reasonably choose. Not keeping them is an offence.
- [6 April 2026: Harassment reports now protected disclosures](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/sexual-harassment-whistleblowing/): Sexual harassment is now one of the categories of wrongdoing that can make a disclosure “protected” under whistleblowing law. A worker who reports it is protected from detriment, and an employee dismissed mainly for doing so is automatically unfairly dismissed with no qualifying period.
- [6 April 2026: Collective redundancy: 180-day protective award](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/collective-redundancy-protective-award/): If an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within 90 days and fails to consult collectively, a tribunal can award up to 180 days’ pay per affected employee (it was 90). It applies to dismissals taking effect on or after 6 April 2026.
- [7 April 2026: Fair Work Agency: what small firms should know](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/fair-work-agency/): A single state enforcement body now brings together minimum wage enforcement, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. Holiday pay and statutory sick pay are planned to come within its remit later, subject to further regulations.
- [1 October 2026: Tribunal claims: 6-month time limit (Oct 2026)](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/tribunal-time-limits-six-months/): The time limit for most employment tribunal claims — including unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deductions — is now six months. It applies where the relevant date (for example the date employment ended) is on or after 1 October 2026; earlier events keep the three-month limit.
- [30 October 2026: Sexual harassment: the all reasonable steps duty](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/sexual-harassment-all-reasonable-steps/): The duty in section 40A of the Equality Act 2010 is strengthened from “reasonable steps” to “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees. Employers also become liable for harassment of employees by third parties — customers, clients, contractors — unless they took all reasonable steps to prevent it. There is no small-employer exemption.
- [1 January 2027: Unfair dismissal after 6 months from Jan 2027](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/unfair-dismissal-six-months/): The qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027 — even if notice was given before then. The cap on the compensatory award is removed, and the right to written reasons for dismissal also starts at six months. Anyone with at least six months’ service on 1 January 2027 is protected from that day.
- [March 2027 (planned): Fire and rehire: what changes in 2027](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/fire-and-rehire/): Dismissing an employee for refusing a “restricted variation” — such as a cut to pay, hours, pension or time off, or a power to make such changes — or to replace them on varied terms, will be automatically unfair, with no qualifying period. A narrow exception applies where the change is needed to address financial difficulties threatening the business as a going concern and could not reasonably be avoided.
- [January 2027 (planned): Telling staff about the right to join a union](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/trade-union-rights-statement/): Employers will have to give workers a written statement that they have the right to join a trade union. When it must be given, and its form and content, will be set by regulations.
- [1 January 2027 (planned): Tipping policies: consult staff from 2027](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/tipping-policy-consultation/): Employers that receive tips must already pass them on in full and have a written tipping policy. The Act adds a duty to consult workers (or a recognised union) before making or revising the policy, publish an anonymised summary of the feedback, and review the policy at least every three years.
- [October 2027 (planned): Flexible working requests: the 2027 tightening](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/flexible-working-reasonableness/): Employees can already ask for flexible working from day one (since 6 April 2024), make two requests a year, and get a decision within two months. The Act will require that a refusal is reasonable, rests on one of the eight statutory business reasons, and is explained to the employee.
- [April 2027 (planned): Bereavement leave, including pregnancy loss](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/bereavement-leave/): A new right to unpaid bereavement leave will cover the death of a dependant or other specified relationships, and pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Length, notice and timing will be set in regulations. Parental bereavement leave for the death of a child under 18 already exists.
- [No date yet: Zero hours: guaranteed hours and shift notice](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/guaranteed-hours-zero-hours/): Zero-hours and low-hours workers will be offered guaranteed hours reflecting the hours they regularly work over a reference period, and get reasonable notice of shifts and payment when shifts are cancelled, moved or cut short at short notice. The reference period, the “low hours” threshold and notice periods are all for regulations.
- [October 2027 (planned): Stronger dismissal protection for new mothers](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/pregnancy-dismissal-protection/): Regulations will restrict dismissal during pregnancy, maternity leave and a period after return, except in specified circumstances. The detail — which reasons remain allowed and how long the protected period lasts — is not yet set.
- [September 2027 (planned): NDAs that silence harassment claims become void](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/key-dates/ndas-harassment-discrimination/): Contract terms — including in settlement agreements — that stop a worker making allegations or disclosures about harassment or discrimination, or about how the employer responded, will be void, subject to exceptions set in regulations.

## Guides

- [Employment Rights Act 2025: Small Employer Guide](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/employment-rights-act-2025-timeline-small-employers/): The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and comes into force in stages. Day-one SSP, day-one paternity and parental leave and the six-year holiday-records duty started on 6 April 2026; tribunal time limits doubled to six months on 1 October 2026; the "all reasonable steps" sexual harassment duty starts on 30 October 2026; and unfair dismissal protection after six months starts on 1 January 2027. Fire and rehire limits (March 2027 per GOV.UK), bereavement leave (April 2027), flexible working changes (October 2027) and guaranteed hours (undated) are planned but we found no commencement regulations for them as of 25 October 2026.
- [Statutory Sick Pay Changes April 2026](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/ssp-changes-april-2026/): From 6 April 2026 Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first qualifying day of sickness, there is no lower earnings limit, and the weekly rate is the lower of £123.25 and 80% of the employee's average weekly earnings. A single day of sickness now counts as a period of incapacity for work, so short absences earn SSP and link to later ones if they are 56 days or less apart. Linked absences share one 28-week maximum.
- [Linked periods of incapacity (SSP) explained](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/linked-periods-of-incapacity-explained/): Two periods of incapacity for work are linked when they are separated by 8 weeks (56 days) or less, and linked periods are treated as one for Statutory Sick Pay: one 28-week maximum, one rate set before the first absence and, before 6 April 2026, one set of waiting days. Since 6 April 2026 a single day of sickness is a period of incapacity, so short absences now link. Count the days between the last day of one absence and the first day of the next; 56 or fewer means linked.
- [Unfair dismissal qualifying period changes 2027](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/unfair-dismissal-qualifying-period-changes/): For any dismissal where employment ends on or after 1 January 2027, an employee needs six months' continuous service to claim ordinary unfair dismissal instead of two years (Employment Rights Act 2025 s.25; S.I. 2026/559). Service counts from the first day, so six months are complete on the day before the six-month anniversary. Anyone who started on or before 2 July 2026 is protected from 1 January 2027. The cap on the compensatory award is removed the same day.
- [Probation After the Employment Rights Act 2025](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/probation-periods-after-the-employment-rights-act/): The Employment Rights Act 2025 did not create a statutory probation period: probation is still whatever your contract says, and Acas notes it can be any length. What changed is that unfair dismissal protection starts after six months' service for employment ending on or after 1 January 2027. Many small employers are therefore moving to probation of three to five months, with the formal review two weeks or more before it ends so there is time to extend or decide before protection starts.
- [Day-one employment rights list for 2026/27](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/day-one-rights-list/): From day one an employee in Great Britain has the right to a written statement of terms, Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave (since 6 April 2026), to request flexible working (since 6 April 2024), and protection from discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal. Rights that still need service include one week's statutory notice (1 month), statutory paternity and maternity pay (26 weeks), ordinary unfair dismissal (6 months from 1 January 2027) and statutory redundancy pay (2 years).
- [Updating employment contracts for 2026/27](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/updating-employment-contracts-2026-27/): Contracts and handbooks written before 2026 usually need five changes: the sick pay clause (no waiting days or earnings threshold from 6 April 2026), family leave (paternity and parental leave from day one), probation (shorter, with a review before six months' service from 1 January 2027), any wording that ties rights to "two years", and variation or flexibility clauses ahead of the planned fire and rehire rules. Holiday-record keeping and the harassment policy also need attention in 2026.
- [Sexual harassment duty for small firms (2026)](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/sexual-harassment-prevention-duty-small-firms/): From 30 October 2026 the duty in section 40A of the Equality Act 2010 becomes a duty to take "all reasonable steps" to prevent sexual harassment of employees, and employers become liable for harassment of their staff by third parties such as customers unless they took all reasonable steps (Employment Rights Act 2025 ss.20–21; S.I. 2026/1065). There is no small-employer exemption. A tribunal can already raise compensation by up to 25% where the preventative duty is breached. For a small firm, a risk assessment, a clear policy, short training and a reporting route that bypasses the manager are the core steps.
- [Statutory sick pay for zero hours workers (2026)](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/guides/statutory-sick-pay-zero-hours-workers/): Since 6 April 2026 zero-hours staff who qualify as employees for SSP get Statutory Sick Pay from the first qualifying day of sickness, however little they earn: the lower earnings limit (£125 a week in 2025/26) was abolished. They are paid the lower of £123.25 a week and 80% of their average weekly earnings over the previous 8 weeks. Qualifying days are the days they were due to work; if no days are agreed in a week, Wednesday is the qualifying day.

## Optional

- [Full text of all guides](https://employment-rights-act-2025.pages.dev/llms-full.txt): every guide as plain Markdown