April 2026: Employment Law has changed. Has your dental practice kept up?

April has arrived and major reforms to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) have taken effect under the Employment Rights Act 2025 is now in force. If this has crept up on you, you're not alone. For many dental practice owners and managers the reality of what this means for their practice may only be starting to land.

The good news is there's still time to act. Whilst these changes aren’t optional, they are manageable - if you move quickly.

Here's what has changed and exactly what you should be to bring yourself up to date.

What actually changed on 6 April 2026?

As of 6 April 2026, two headline changes came to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP):

The first is the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit. Previously, employees needed to earn above a certain threshold to qualify for SSP. From now, that threshold disappears. This means that part-time nurses or receptionists on reduced hours could now qualify for SSP where they didn't before.

The second is the end of waiting days. SSP used to kick in from day four of an absence. From 6 April, it's day one. Every sickness absence, however short, immediately affects your payroll and your rota.

What you need to do now

Update your contracts, handbooks, and payroll systems. Your documentation needs to reflect the new eligibility rules and day-one entitlement. This is especially important if you employ staff on variable hours, as SSP calculations become more complex. Don't assume your payroll provider  (if you have one) has automatically made these changes - check.

Tighten your absence management processes. With SSP now accessible from day one, consistent return-to-work interviews and early intervention conversations become more important than ever. Practices with vague or informally applied absence policies are most at risk of seeing absenteeism creep upward. If your absence management process lives in someone's head rather than in a documented procedure, now is the time to formalise it.

Stress-test your rotas. Look at where sickness would hit hardest. Identify your vulnerabilities now, before they become emergencies. Building a small bank of trained cover staff or cross-training existing team members is far less painful than a last-minute locum search.

Communicate proactively with patients. More frequent short-notice absences will likely mean more appointment disruptions. Having a clear, consistent communication process in place - rather than a reactive scramble - protects patient relationships and your reputation.

Employment law doesn't stand still, and for busy dental practice owners and managers, it can be genuinely difficult to keep pace alongside everything else you're managing. If you're already supported by our Oracle HR service, the good news is that these changes have been taken care of for you. If you're not, and today's read has left you with a to-do list you're not sure how to tackle, we're here to help. Get in touch with our Employment Team on 0330 088 2275 or info@buxtoncoates.com and we'll make sure your practice is where it needs to be.