Legal update: Annual leave records April 2026

Earlier this month, we updated you on some key changes being introduced in the first phase of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA). These changes will start to take effect from 6 April 2026. You can read our detailed guide to the April 2026 changes.

The government has now passed regulations that enable these April ERA changes to take place. However, these regulations also bring into force new rules on annual leave records, which were not previously part of the government’s April timeline. Of course, the rules on annual leave apply to both employees and workers.

This amendment creates a new statutory obligation on employers to keep accurate annual leave records.

Your records must prove that:

• You have provided employees with their full annual leave entitlement – a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year (or for irregular and part-year workers, paid 12.07% accrual where agreed).
• You have paid departing employees for any unused holiday – where an employee’s contract is ending, they have received payment for any holiday earned but not taken.

You must also keep these annual leave records for six years from the date they were made.

Failure to maintain such adequate records has been added to the list of summary (criminal) offences in the Working Time Regulations 1998.

Further, 7 April sees the establishment of the Fair Work Agency and one of its many remits is to ensure that annual leave has been properly paid.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about these changes, please speak with your consultant and we’ll be happy to help.