The Employment Rights Act is already beginning to reshape how organisations think about employee relations risk, manager capability and workforce support. While some reforms remain under consultation ahead of phased implementation through 2027, other changes are already active and influencing operational decision-making now.
The introduction of day-one Statutory Sick Pay eligibility in April 2026, alongside the removal of the lower earnings limit, has already altered how many employers approach sickness absence management. Planned changes to unfair dismissal qualifying periods, expected to reduce eligibility from two years’ service to six months from January 2027, are also prompting organisations to reassess how probationary periods are managed and evidenced.
For employers, these changes create a familiar challenge. Policies can be updated relatively quickly, but building consistent manager capability across the organisation is far more difficult.
That gap between process and practical application is where many employee relations issues escalate.
Managers are increasingly expected to navigate sensitive absence conversations, performance concerns, wellbeing discussions and formal processes with confidence and consistency, often while balancing operational pressure and limited time. For learning and development teams, alongside employee relations and people functions, the pressure is no longer simply about delivering compliance training. It is about reducing organisational risk by improving decision-making at manager level.
Sickness absence management is becoming more operationally sensitive
The conversation around sickness absence has evolved significantly over recent years. Mental health, burnout and long-term health conditions are now far more visible within workplace absence trends, while employees increasingly expect earlier support and clearer communication from employers.
CIPD data shows that absence rates are already at their highest level in over 15 years, averaging 9.4 days per employee per year. The Employment Rights Act adds another layer of complexity and heightens the potential for more sickness absence cases.
Day-one SSP entitlement increases the importance of consistent absence management from the earliest stages of employee absence. For organisations managing high case volumes, even small inconsistencies in manager response can quickly scale into operational, financial and employee relations challenges.
Many managers still lack confidence in handling absence conversations appropriately. Some delay intervention because they worry about saying the wrong thing. Others apply processes inconsistently across teams, creating fairness concerns and avoidable escalation into formal ER cases.
Long-term absence management also continues to create pressure for HR teams, particularly where managers are uncertain about disability-related absence, reasonable adjustments or when formal processes should begin.
This is where targeted learning becomes more valuable than broad awareness training.
Our Sickness Absence Managing with Confidence eLearning course focuses on the practical realities managers face when handling absence issues. It explores the impact of sickness absence on individuals and organisations, alongside the operational responsibilities managers hold throughout the process.
The course covers:
- Managing short-term absence
- Handling long-term absence
- Understanding formal absence processes
- Supporting employees with disabilities
- Recognising when support should be introduced
Importantly, the learning reflects the situations managers are likely to encounter in practice, helping build confidence around conversations, consistency and decision-making rather than simply reiterating policy wording.
For organisations already seeing rising absence complexity, that capability gap is becoming harder to ignore.
Probation periods are moving higher up the risk agenda
Probationary periods have historically been viewed as relatively low-risk processes in many organisations. That assumption is beginning to change.
The upcoming reduction of unfair dismissal qualifying service from two years to six months significantly increases the importance of how probationary periods are managed, documented and supported. Although implementation is expected from January 2027, employers need to be already reviewing their approach in anticipation of the change.
For some organisations, this may mean exposing longstanding weaknesses in manager capability.
Performance concerns are often identified too late, difficult conversations are delayed. objectives are unclear or inconsistently applied across teams and documentation standards vary between managers and departments. In many cases, HR teams only become involved once relationships have deteriorated or formal action becomes unavoidable.
That creates operational pressure well beyond legal exposure alone.
Poorly managed probation experiences can affect retention, onboarding effectiveness, employee confidence and manager credibility. They also increase dependency on HR and employee relations teams to resolve issues reactively rather than proactively.
Our Early Days Probationary Periods eLearning course was developed in collaboration with our Group employment law experts, Halborns, to help managers approach probation periods more confidently and consistently.
The course explores:
- The purpose and value of probationary periods
- Supporting new starters effectively
- Managing performance concerns proactively
- Extending, passing or failing probation fairly
- Common pitfalls managers should avoid
The focus is practical rather than theoretical, helping managers understand how to apply probation processes consistently while improving the experience for both managers and employees.
The challenge facing learning and development teams
Many learning leaders are now operating in a difficult position. Expectations around manager capability continue to expand, while managers themselves are under increasing operational pressure.
At the same time, organisations are looking for clearer evidence that learning interventions support measurable business outcomes. Generic management development programmes are becoming harder to justify unless they directly improve operational consistency, reduce risk or strengthen employee experience.
Employee relations capability increasingly sits within that conversation.
Sickness absence and probation management are both areas where relatively small improvements in manager confidence can create wider organisational impact. Better early intervention, stronger documentation, more consistent communication and earlier escalation all help reduce unnecessary ER complexity further down the line.
Preparing managers before issues escalate
As implementation timelines for different elements of the Employment Rights Act continue to develop, many organisations are reassessing how they prepare managers for increasingly complex workplace responsibilities.
That preparation goes beyond policy awareness alone. Managers need practical confidence in handling sensitive conversations, recognising risk early and applying processes consistently under pressure. Without that confidence, even well-designed policies can become difficult to execute effectively at scale.
Focused eLearning around sickness absence and probation management helps address that challenge directly by strengthening capability in areas where organisations are likely to experience increasing scrutiny and operational pressure over the coming years.
For many employers, the priority is no longer simply understanding legislative change. It is ensuring managers are prepared to apply those changes consistently, fairly and confidently in day-to-day practice.