Employment law in the UK: your rights at work, explained

A contract can call you self-employed while your shifts, pay and manager tell a different story. That distinction changes whether you get paid holiday, sick pay or protection against dismissal. This guide starts with the question that decides most work rights — your legal status — then takes you through the rules in force on 1 October 2026.

First, find out which rights cover you

There is no single UK employment-law statute. In Great Britain, the Employment Rights Act 1996, Working Time Regulations 1998, National Minimum Wage Act 1998, Equality Act 2010 and health-and-safety law each do different jobs. A contract can improve on statutory minimums, not remove them. Northern Ireland has its own employment legislation; some rights, including the minimum wage, are UK-wide.

An employee works under a contract of employment. A worker personally performs work but may have a looser obligation to accept it — as with some casual or gig work. A genuinely self-employed person runs a business on their own account. There is no magic test: control, personal service, the obligation to offer and do work, and what happens in practice all matter. A right to send someone else in your place is relevant, but merely putting it in the contract does not settle the question. Tax status is a separate test. If the label and the job disagree, check employment status on GOV.UK.

Agency workers usually have worker rights from the start, a key information document and, after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, equal treatment on basic working and employment conditions. Their sick-pay position depends on the assignment and contract. Someone on a zero-hours contract may be a worker or an employee; the contract type does not decide status. New guaranteed-hours and shift-notice rights are planned for 2027, not in force today.

Your contract, wages and overtime

Your employer must give employees and workers a written statement of employment particulars. The principal statement is due on day one; the wider statement, including disciplinary procedures, within two months. Changes must be notified within a month. The statement records pay, hours and holiday, but is not itself the whole contract. If your first payslip does not match it, ask for an explanation in writing.

A 19-year-old doing 30 paid hours a week must receive at least 30 × £10.85 = £325.50 before tax. At age 21, 37.5 hours at the £12.71 rate comes to £476.625, or approximately £476.63 a week before tax. An apprentice aged 21 past the first year is entitled to the age-based rate. Employer-provided accommodation has a special offset of £11.10 a day; ordinary perks cannot simply be counted as wages. See how to check minimum-wage pay.

There is no statutory time-and-a-half overtime rate. Your contract may promise one, but even without a premium your pay must meet the minimum-wage rules for the hours counted in the relevant pay reference period. Employers cannot make deductions just because they wish to; statutory authority, a contractual provision or prior written agreement is usually needed. See overtime pay.

Working hours, breaks and paid holiday

The usual maximum is 48 hours a week averaged over 17 weeks, not a hard limit on every individual week. Adult workers can agree in writing to opt out; they must not be dismissed or treated unfairly for refusing. Young workers have tighter limits, generally eight hours a day and 40 a week. Some jobs have modified rules, so check the working-time guide before assuming an exemption.

Adult workers normally get an uninterrupted 20-minute rest break when working more than six hours, 11 consecutive hours’ daily rest and 24 hours’ weekly rest (or 48 hours over two weeks). Almost all workers get 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year. Three days a week makes 16.8 days; working six days does not increase the statutory cap beyond 28 days. Bank holidays can count towards the entitlement.

Sick pay: what changed in April 2026

From 6 April 2026, eligible employees get Statutory Sick Pay from the first full working day of sickness, with no lower earnings limit. It pays £123.25 a week or 80% of normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. Earnings are normally averaged over eight weeks; recent starters can still qualify. You must have done some work for the employer and be ill for at least one full working day. Some agency workers can qualify. Tell your employer promptly; after more than seven consecutive days off, a fit note is normally needed.

Family leave, pay and flexible working

Statutory maternity leave is 52 weeks for employees, regardless of length of service; it can usually start from 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. Statutory Maternity Pay runs for up to 39 weeks: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first six, then £194.32 or 90% of earnings, whichever is lower, for 33 weeks. Pay has a separate test: at least £129 a week in average earnings and 26 weeks’ continuous employment into the qualifying week, the 15th before the expected birth.

Since 6 April 2026, eligible employees can take up to two weeks’ paternity leave from day one of employment. Statutory Paternity Pay still needs 26 weeks’ service by the qualifying week and average earnings of at least £129; it is £194.32 a week or 90% of earnings if lower. Unpaid parental leave also became a day-one right: 18 weeks per child until age 18, normally no more than four weeks per child per year. Notice and other eligibility conditions still apply. An eligible bereaved partner may take up to 52 weeks’ paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies in the child’s first year.

Other employee rights include one week’s unpaid carer’s leave, two weeks’ parental bereavement leave and up to 12 weeks’ neonatal care leave; statutory neonatal care pay has separate service and earnings tests. Shared parental leave follows its own eligibility and notice rules; see shared parental leave. Having a day-one right to take leave does not necessarily mean day-one statutory pay.

In Great Britain, every employee can request flexible working from day one. The employer must deal with the request reasonably, but may refuse for a permitted business reason such as cost or inability to reorganise work. This is a right to ask, not to get the arrangement requested. Further changes are scheduled for 2027, not in force now. See how to make a request.

Discrimination and harassment

The Equality Act 2010 applies in Great Britain, not Northern Ireland. It protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It covers direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation; employers also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Protection can extend beyond conventional employees. See the Equality Act guide.

A blanket rule banning head coverings might disadvantage Muslim staff: even a neutral-looking rule can amount to indirect discrimination unless the employer can show it is a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim. Since October 2024 employers have had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. A stronger duty to take all reasonable steps and a new third-party harassment obligation are scheduled for 30 October 2026. A customer’s conduct cannot yet be described as covered by that new duty.

A safe workplace and the right to speak up

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect people affected by their work so far as reasonably practicable. That means assessing risks, providing safe equipment, information and training, and consulting workers. Employees must take reasonable care and cooperate. If a hazard is ignored, record it and raise it with your employer or a safety representative; see occupational health.

Disclosures about sexual harassment became eligible for whistleblowing protection on 6 April 2026. The protection depends on the statutory disclosure tests, not simply calling a complaint whistleblowing. If you face detriment for reporting wrongdoing or safety concerns, keep dated evidence and see whistleblower protections.

Notice, unfair dismissal and redundancy

An employee with at least a month’s service is owed at least one week’s notice from the employer. From two full years the minimum is one week for each complete year, up to 12 weeks. If you resign after more than a month, your statutory minimum is one week; your contract may require more. At seven years’ service the employer owes at least seven weeks. A contract can provide longer notice, not less. Check notice periods before resigning or accepting a termination date.

Ordinary unfair dismissal usually requires two years’ continuous employment in Great Britain on 1 October 2026. Automatically unfair reasons, including dismissal linked to pregnancy or protected whistleblowing, do not generally require two years. Discrimination claims follow a different legal route. A fair reason alone is not enough: an employer must also follow a fair process. See unfair dismissal claims.

Statutory redundancy pay normally needs two years’ employee service. Each full year when you were under 22 earns half a week’s pay; from 22 to 40, one week; from 41, one and a half. Only 20 years can count. For redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, a week’s pay is capped at £751 and the maximum payment is £22,530.

When something goes wrong

Keep the payslip, rota, contract, messages and a dated note of each conversation. Raise the issue promptly, then make a formal grievance if it cannot be resolved. A grievance or internal appeal does not stop a tribunal deadline. Bullying is not a stand-alone claim simply because it is bullying; it may engage discrimination, safety or dismissal law depending on what happened. See what to do if you are bullied at work.

1. Identify the claim. Is it unpaid wages, discrimination, dismissal or something else? Different limits and eligibility tests apply.
2. Use the internal route. Put the concern in writing and keep copies. You can ask about being accompanied at a formal grievance meeting.
3. Notify Acas in time. In Great Britain, early conciliation notification is required before most employment-tribunal claims, with limited exceptions. It pauses the clock if started within the claim’s time limit; you need not agree to a settlement.
4. Check the actual deadline. For most claims with a time limit starting on or after 1 October 2026, it is six calendar months minus one day; earlier claims usually keep three months minus one day. Some types, including statutory redundancy pay and equal pay, already had different limits. The six-month extension for Scottish employment-contract tribunal claims starts on 9 November 2026. No fee is charged to bring a tribunal claim.

The Employment Rights Act 2025: now and next

The Act received Royal Assent in December 2025, but that did not bring every provision into force. The official timetable, updated 25 September 2026, distinguishes measures already in force from future dates, which may change.

1. 6 Apr 2026In force: sick pay and family rights

   SSP waiting days and earnings floor removed; paternity and unpaid parental leave from day one; bereaved partners’ leave introduced. Sexual-harassment whistleblowing protection widened. Maximum collective-redundancy protective award doubled to 180 days’ pay.

2. 7 Apr 2026In force: Fair Work Agency established

   The new enforcement body includes enforcement of certain agency-work rules.

3. 1 Oct 2026In force: longer tribunal claim window

   Most GB time limits starting today or later are six months minus one day, subject to exceptions; Scottish contract claims follow on 9 November.

4. 30 Oct 2026Scheduled: harassment and union measures

   Stronger prevention duty and third-party harassment obligation; trade-union access and recognition changes.

5. January 2027Scheduled: dismissal and union-information rights

   Six-month ordinary unfair-dismissal service test for dismissals from 1 January; compensatory cap removed; fire-and-rehire protections and a duty to inform workers of the right to join a union.

6. During 2027Planned: further reforms

   Guaranteed hours and shift notice, bereavement leave including pregnancy loss, changes to flexible working, pregnancy-dismissal protections and mandatory equality action plans. Specific commencement dates are not settled here.