5 Laws Changing This Week: Your April 1–6 UK Compliance Checklist

Five significant UK law changes land between 1 April and 7 April 2026. Miss any of them and you face fines, legal exposure, or a compliance inspection that catches you flat-footed. This is a plain-English checklist covering what changed, who it affects, and what you need to do this week.

No jargon. No waffle. Just the five things.

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Table of Contents

1. NLW rises to £12.21/hour (1 April — today)
2. MTD ITSA goes live for 860,000 people (6 April)
3. SSP day-one rights come into force (6 April)
4. Holiday pay records become mandatory (6 April)
5. Fair Work Agency launches with enforcement powers (7 April)

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1. National Living Wage: £12.21/Hour — In Force Now

Who it affects: Every UK employer who pays anyone at or near minimum wage.

What changed: The National Living Wage (for workers aged 21+) rose from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from midnight on 1 April. The 18–20 rate rose to £10.00/hr; apprentices to £7.55/hr.

The risk: HMRC penalises non-compliance at 200% of underpaid wages, up to £20,000 per worker. Employers with arrears above £500 per worker are named publicly.

Your checklist:

• Update payroll software with new hourly rates today
• Verify hourly workers haven't dropped below the new floor
• Check apprentices — rate depends on age and year of apprenticeship
• If you use a payroll bureau, confirm they've applied the change

Alice can walk you through this: Ask Alice at compliancealert.co.uk/alice exactly what the NLW change means for your payroll.

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2. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD ITSA) — 6 April

Who it affects: Sole traders and landlords with self-employment or property income above £50,000 per year.

What changed: From 6 April, affected individuals must use HMRC-compatible software to submit quarterly digital updates. The annual self-assessment return is replaced for this group. This is the biggest change to UK personal tax administration in a generation.

The risk: Penalties for failing to use compatible software or submit updates on time start immediately. HMRC has confirmed there is no soft-landing period beyond 6 April for the first cohort.

Who is in the first cohort?

• Sole traders with trading income > £50,000
• Landlords with property income > £50,000
• People with combined income from both sources above £50,000

If that's you or your clients, you have five days. If you're an accountant, this affects a meaningful portion of your sole trader book.

Your checklist:

• Confirm whether your income exceeds the £50,000 threshold
• Choose HMRC-compatible software (Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage all qualify)
• Connect your software to HMRC's MTD service via Government Gateway
• Understand your quarterly submission schedule (1st submission due July 2026)
• If using an accountant, confirm they have a plan for your MTD filing

Not sure whether you're affected? Take our free Compliance Score quiz — 20 questions, instant results.

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3. Statutory Sick Pay Day-One Rights — 6 April

Who it affects: All UK employers.

What changed: From 6 April, employees are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the first day of sickness. Previously, SSP only kicked in from day 4 — the first three days were "waiting days" with no statutory pay. That rule is abolished.

The current SSP rate is £116.75 per week (reviewed annually).

Why this matters more than it looks: The change in itself doesn't dramatically increase costs for most employers — a two-day cold costs you two days of SSP rather than nothing. But the operational requirement changes: you now need to process SSP from day one, your attendance management procedures may need updating, and absence records become more important.

The real trap: If your employment contracts or HR policies still reference a three-day waiting period, they are now wrong. An employee who reads their contract will see language that contradicts their legal rights.

Your checklist:

• Update HR policies and absence management procedures to remove reference to waiting days
• Update employment contracts if they specify the old SSP waiting period
• Brief line managers — they need to know absence from day one may trigger SSP
• Check your payroll software handles day-one SSP correctly

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4. Holiday Pay Records — Mandatory From 6 April

Who it affects: All employers.

What changed: Under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (effective 6 April), employers must maintain accurate holiday pay records for all workers — including how accrued holiday pay is calculated. This formalises a requirement that was previously implied but rarely enforced.

This is particularly relevant for businesses with:

• Zero-hours or variable-hours workers
• Part-year workers (seasonal staff)
• Workers with irregular pay (commission, overtime)

The correct method for calculating holiday pay for these workers is to use a 52-week rolling average of actual pay — not simply the basic hourly rate. Many employers are still getting this wrong.

The risk: If a worker brings an employment tribunal claim for underpaid holiday, your records are now expected to demonstrate compliant calculation methodology. Absence of records will count against you.

Your checklist:

• Audit your holiday pay calculation method — especially for non-standard workers
• Confirm your payroll system uses the 52-week reference period for variable pay
• Ensure holiday records are stored and accessible for each worker
• Review zero-hours contracts for correct holiday accrual and pay

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5. Fair Work Agency Launches — 7 April

Who it affects: Every UK employer — with priority focus on hospitality, retail, agriculture, and care.

What changed: The Fair Work Agency (FWA) launches on 7 April. It consolidates the HMRC National Minimum Wage enforcement team, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority into a single enforcement body.

Why this is different from before: Under the old structure, enforcement was fragmented. A business might have a dispute with one agency while another checked a different compliance area. Employers sometimes slipped through the gaps. The FWA joins those dots.

Its first inspection priorities: NLW compliance, holiday pay, sick pay, and worker records — in other words, items 1, 3, and 4 on this checklist.

The risk of doing nothing: If you've updated payroll but haven't reviewed holiday records or SSP policies, a FWA inspection could find issues you didn't know you had.

Your checklist:

• Complete items 1–4 above before 7 April
• Ensure worker records (contracts, pay slips, holiday records) are complete and retrievable
• Brief your HR or payroll manager on the FWA's launch and priority inspection areas

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How ComplianceAlert Handles This For You

Every change on this list was known weeks — in some cases months — before this week. ComplianceAlert subscribers received alerts when the Employment Rights Act 2025 was enacted, when HMRC confirmed MTD ITSA dates, and when the Low Pay Commission published the April 2026 NLW recommendations.

By the time the deadline week arrived, they weren't scrambling to read a checklist post. They'd had the information, built the actions into their planning, and moved on.

If this checklist is the first you've heard of some of these changes, that's the signal.

Let Alice walk you through each one — she can tell you which of these changes apply to your specific business and what you need to do next. Chat at compliancealert.co.uk/alice.

Or start your free 7-day trial at compliancealert.co.uk — no credit card required. We'll monitor the regulations that affect your sector and alert you before the next deadline week catches you off guard.

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TL;DR

Change	Date	Key Action
NLW £12.21/hr	Today	Update payroll now
MTD ITSA	6 April	Get compatible software + connect to HMRC
SSP day-one	6 April	Update HR policies and payroll
Holiday records	6 April	Audit records + calculation method
Fair Work Agency	7 April	Complete all of the above

All five changes are live this week. The Fair Work Agency will start checking compliance from day one.

Not sure where you stand? Take our free 3-minute Compliance Score quiz — instant results, no sign-up required.

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Published 1 April 2026. Sources: HMRC MTD ITSA guidance, Employment Rights Act 2025 (legislation.gov.uk), Low Pay Commission 2026 recommendations, Fair Work Agency GOV.UK.

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