# The Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026, Regulation 5: Transitional provision in relation to employees earning below the lower earnings limit before 6th April 2026 (England and Wales and Scotland)


(1) Subject to paragraph (5), this regulation applies to an employee in England, Wales or Scotland—
(a) whose period of incapacity for work begins on or before 5th April 2026,
(b) whose period of incapacity for work is continuing on or after 6th April 2026, including where section 152(3) of the 1992 (GB) Act applies,
(c) for whom a period of entitlement does not arise because their normal weekly earnings were less than the lower earnings limit on the first day of their period of incapacity for work, and
(d) for whom, except the lower earnings limit, no circumstances within Schedule 11 to the 1992 (GB) Act, as it has effect immediately before 6th April 2026, prevented a period of entitlement from arising on the first day of their period of incapacity for work.
(2) For the purposes of Part 11 of the 1992 (GB) Act, a post-6th April period of entitlement is deemed to arise and that post-6th April period of entitlement is deemed to commence on the employee’s first day of incapacity for work in relation to a contract of service which falls on or after 6th April 2026.
(3) Paragraph (2) does not apply where, on the day that the employee’s post-6th April period of entitlement would be deemed to have commenced, any of the circumstances within Schedule 11 to the 1992 (GB) Act arise.
(4) Regulation 19 of the 1982 Regulations (GB) has effect in respect of the post-6th April period of entitlement as if, for the definition of the critical date in paragraph (2) of that regulation, there was substituted—
““the critical date” means the first day of the employee’s period of incapacity for work”.
(5) This regulation does not apply to an employee whose period of incapacity for work—
(a) began on or before 21st September 2025, and
(b) for whom the period beginning with 21st September 2025 and ending with 5th April 2026 is comprised only of consecutive days of incapacity for work in relation to a contract of service, all of which form part of that period of incapacity for work.
(6) In this regulation “lower earnings limit” means the limit in force under section 5(1)(a)(i) of the 1992 (GB) Act as it has effect immediately before 6th April 2026.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/373/regulation/5 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/employment-rights-act-2025-commencement-no-3-and-transitional-provisions-regulations-2026/regulation-5
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.