UK employment rates and limits 2026/27

Last checked: 8 October 2026

Minimum wage rates apply across the UK. The redundancy, dismissal and tribunal figures below are Great Britain figures. Northern Ireland sets its own limits, a one-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal, and is not covered by the 2025 Act reforms: see our Northern Ireland guide. The holiday accrual rule also has a Great Britain-only restriction.

Pay

The apprentice rate is not for every apprentice. Check the age and apprenticeship-year rules before accepting a lower rate.

Sick and family pay

The family-pay figures below were uprated over 5–6 April 2026. Pay eligibility is separate from leave eligibility: check the linked guide before relying on a payment.

SSP is payable from the first qualifying day of sickness, with no waiting days or lower earnings limit. Use the statutory sick pay calculator to check your payment.

Redundancy and dismissal

The January changes depend on the effective date of termination, even if notice was given earlier. An uncapped compensatory award is not a promise of a particular payout. Check your redundancy entitlement with the redundancy pay calculator.

Tribunal deadlines and compensation

A wrong deadline can cost you your claim. The limits below are the starting point, before any Acas early conciliation adjustment; use the tribunal deadline calculator and our tribunal procedure guide rather than counting months from memory.

The October extension covers unfair dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deductions and the other claims listed in the commencement rules. It does not mean every tribunal claim changed. Vento bands guide awards for injury to feelings in discrimination claims, not lost wages or a guaranteed payout. Scotland’s November contract-claim switch is scheduled in an approved draft; its made instrument number was still pending when we checked.

Notify Acas within your existing time limit. Early conciliation does not revive an expired deadline.

Holiday

The percentage accrual rule does not apply to every zero-hours contract or to Northern Ireland. Check your working pattern in our holiday guide, then use the holiday calculator.

What changes next

30 October 2026

The confirmed October commencement order brings in:

• A duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, and liability for permitting third-party harassment across protected characteristics.
• A power to specify required harassment-prevention steps in later regulations. This is a power, not a published list of compulsory steps.
• Statutory union access rights, including digital access, and the remaining recognition reforms. Those recognition changes do not apply to applications received by the Central Arbitration Committee before that date.
• Facilities for union officials and learning representatives, plus time off for equality representatives.
• The seafarers’ wages and conditions provisions identified in that order.

1 January 2027

For effective termination dates on or after this date, ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying service falls from 2 years to 6 months and the statutory compensatory award cap is removed. These changes are confirmed by the January commencement order. They are not day-one ordinary unfair dismissal rights.

April 2027 uprating

The figures are not yet confirmed. The Low Pay Commission recommends minimum wage rates to government each autumn ahead of the April uprating. The Budget on 28 October 2026 may announce the next rates, but a possible announcement is not a confirmed figure. Do not use this year’s amounts as a promise of next year’s pay or award limits.

See the employment rights reform tracker for the wider timetable, or return to all worker-rights tools.