The Employment Rights Act 2025 brings changes to record keeping for employers.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is a substantial piece of, largely, Great British legislation that bring about changes to employment law.  Yet, the legislation must be brought into force by secondary legislation which gives effective dates over a long period of time. For example, The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 - bring the following into force:

• Section 15 of the Act which removes the qualifying period of employment for unpaid Parental Leave (the 52 weeks).  The 2025 Regulations state that for the purposes of giving notices to employers of intention to take leave, this takes effect from 18 February 2026:
• The 2025 Regulations bring the removal of the qualifying period into force on 06 April 2026

So, the Regulations allow employees to provide notices to employers of their right to exercise their statutory right from 06 April 2026. 

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 also brings into force elements of the 2025 Act.  One of these is Section 35 entitled ‘duty to keep records relating to annual leave’.  This Section amends the Great British Working Time Regulations 1998 adding a new duty on employers from 06 April 2026 to keep records relating to annual holiday leave and pay.  This means the following records:

• The statutory holiday leave (the 4 weeks plus the 1.6 weeks);
• Any leave carried over from a previous year;
• The dates on which this leave is taken;
• The payments made for this leave and how they are calculated; and
• Payments made in lieu of holiday pay (on termination of employment) 

For Bookkeepers

Note that the Working Time Regulations 1998 applies to workers, including those working irregular hours or part-time.  Workers include employees. 

ICB suggests many employers will have systems showing how the employer has complied with their obligations for allowing annual leave and paying holiday pay.  However, there has never been a statutory requirement to keep these records and retain them for six years.

This will be added to the remit of enforcement responsibilities for the Fair Work Agency which is established on 07 April 2026.  This Agency has wide enforcement powers, though how they will be enforced is unknown at the time of writing.

There is no required format and employers can keep these records in any way they choose.  However, they must be sufficient to be able to demonstrate that minimum holiday leave and pay has been granted to the worker. 

If a worker does bring a claim via the Fair Work Agency for incorrect holiday leave and / or pay, the employer will not be in a defensive position if they have inadequate records. 

This is a significant consideration for bookkeepers who will be keeping these records for employers.