About this webinar
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest overhaul of UK employment law in a generation – and the first wave of changes lands on 6 April 2026. Day-one rights are expanding. Sick pay rules are being rewritten. The National Living Wage is rising to £12.71. Employer NI is at 15%. And a brand-new enforcement body – the Fair Work Agency – launches on 7 April.
Everyone else is talking about the compliance checklist. We want to go further.
In this free, practical session, our expert panel will explore what these changes actually mean for how you attract candidates, structure your reward, support your employees and manage risk – across the entire employee lifecycle. Because the organisations that treat April 2026 as a strategic opportunity, not just an operational headache, are the ones that will come out ahead.
What you'll discover
- What it means for hiring: How day-one rights, rising employment costs and the reduced unfair dismissal qualifying period are changing the economics and risk profile of every hire – and what that means for your recruitment strategy and employer value proposition.
- What it means for reward: Why pay compression is the biggest hidden risk of 2026, how the NI multiplier makes tax-efficient benefits more valuable than ever, and how to rethink your total reward strategy when salary budgets are squeezed.
- What it means for your people: From expanded sick pay and bereavement protections to menopause and gender pay action plans – how these changes reshape the employee experience and what the best employers will do differently.
- What it means for risk: Doubled redundancy penalties, new whistleblowing protections, and the Fair Work Agency – the cost of getting it wrong has never been higher.
- What it means for your systems: The payroll and HR changes you need in place by April – and how integrated technology takes the operational burden off your plate so you can focus on the strategic.
Why this matters
📊96% of UK employers expect the next year to be challenging – Ciphr, 2025
📊46% of HR professionals say good employee benefits are their top business priority – Ciphr, 2025
📊It costs approximately £2,367 more per year to employ a full-time minimum-wage worker than it did in 2024
Who should attend
This session is designed for anyone responsible for people, pay or talent – whether you’re in a team of 5 or 5,000:
- HR Directors and HR Managers
- Payroll Managers and Payroll Administrators
- Recruitment and Talent Acquisition leads
- People and Culture professionals
- Finance Directors and Business Owners
- Operations and Compliance leads
Lizzy Barry
HR Director, IRIS Software Group
Daniel Grace
Director of International HR Consulting, IRIS Software Group
David Kisiaky
Senior Manager of Product Management, IRIS Software Group
Gillian O'Dea CA
Director, J H Greenwood and Company
Eva Mrazikova (Moderator)
Accountancy Market Specialist, IRIS Software Group
