Agile HR Newsletter April 2026

Legislation Changes – Policy Updates

The UK’s employment law landscape is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in decades, driven by the Employment Rights Act 2025, with changes rolling out across 2026 and into 2027. While much of the conversation has focused on enhanced employee rights, the real operational impact for organisations lies in the policy updates employers must now implement.

Here are some of the key policy updates to be aware of:

Family Leave Policies: A Shift to “Day One” Rights – What’s changed:

• Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are now available from the first day of employment;
• Introduction of Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave (up to 52 weeks in extreme circumstances).

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – What’s changed:

• SSP is now payable from day one of illness, not day four – the ‘waiting days’ have been removed;
• Removal of the lower earnings limit, widening eligibility for all employees.

Harassment and Whistleblowing – What’s changed:

• Sexual harassment is now explicitly covered under whistleblowing protections;
• Expanded duty to prevent harassment, including from third parties.

Upcoming Policy Changes to be aware of:

(Oct 2026) Harassment – What to expect:

• Employers will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment;
• New protections will cover third-party harassment (e.g. from customers or clients).

(Oct 2026) Trade Unions – What to expect:

• Employers must inform employees of their right to join a trade union.
• Union access to workplaces is expected to increase.

(Jan 2027) Unfair Dismissal – What to expect:

• Unfair Dismissal service requirements to change from 2 years to 6 months, effecting policies/ processes such as probationary periods and disciplinary/ performance management.

If you would like more information on Policy Updates, please contact [email protected]

Managing Employee Timekeeping: Simple Steps for Success

Many businesses manage their timekeeping through trust rather than formal clocking-in systems. While this approach can work well, we believe employee timekeeping still requires clear structure to ensure fairness, consistency, and compliance.

Why Timekeeping Matters

Accurate timekeeping is about more than knowing who arrived late on Monday morning. It directly affects many areas of the business. Without structure issues can arise in a number of areas e.g. work-life balance, accountability across teams, excessive working hours which can lead to compliance with working time regulations and unclear expectations.

Focus on Responsibility and Accountability, Not Surveillance

A trust based culture fosters professional accountability rather than excessive monitoring. Clear expectations help prevent misunderstandings and ensure fairness for everyone; these can include:

• Expected working hours
• Lunch & break arrangements
• Attendance at key meetings
• How annual leave and sickness absence should be reported
• Hybrid working arrangements
• Overtime processes
• Guidelines for time off in lieu (TOIL)
• Expectations for remote or flexible working
• Lateness procedure

Practical Ways to Manage Time

Practical options to support your employees and also support timekeeping include:

• Manager oversight and team supervision
• Clear diary management including shared calendars for visibility
• Weekly workload check-ins / regular 1:1s
• Team planning meetings
• Leave management systems
• Attendance records for absence tracking

These provide transparency without creating unnecessary administration.

Manager Tip: Don’t Ignore Small Patterns

Repeated lateness and/or frequent short absences can signal a wider issue and potentially an employee welfare concern.

We advise your managers to address concerns early and consistently. An early, informal check-in conversation is often very effective and can avoid formal action at a later stage.

Reviews Regularly

Employee attendance and time management should be reviewed on a regular basis. You can look for patterns of lateness, frequent short absences, excessive overtime, holiday balance concerns, workload pressures and signs of employee burnout. This is part of good people management and your line managers can support with this.

To conclude

Good timekeeping is not about micromanagement – it’s about trust, fairness, consistency, clarity, and protecting the business through good working practices. Sometimes the best HR advice is also the simplest: make expectations clear, keep records accurate, and manage any issues early.

If you would like support with this do reach out [email protected]