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Quiz: Are your employment law basics in good shape for 2026

Are your employment law basics in good shape for 2026?

A practical 5-minute check for small businesses. 

Employment law has shifted a lot in 2026, with changes affecting SSP, minimum wage, holiday records, family leave, whistleblowing and the level of scrutiny around everyday HR admin.

For most SMEs, the challenge isn't becoming an employment law expert. It's making sure the basics are organised, up to date and easy to evidence. That's exactly where gaps tend to appear: outdated policies, inconsistent holiday calculations, scattered records and processes that live in one person's inbox or head.

This quiz is designed to help you sense-check where you are, spot what might need attention and get clear next steps, without feeling tested or judged.

  1. Do all your employees have up-to-date written terms that reflect how they actually work and are paid, including any changes you’ve made to leave, sickness or pay processes in 2026?
  2. Are your core policies, including sickness/SSP, leave, working time and whistleblowing, up to date, clearly dated, version-controlled and easy for your team to find?
  3. Have you updated your SSP policy and internal process to reflect that SSP is now payable from day one of sickness absence, with the lower earnings limit removed?
  4. Have you updated payroll, pay rates and any relevant pay processes to reflect the latest National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage increases?
  5. Are you confident your employees are still being paid at or above the correct minimum rate for their age and role once you factor in things like working time, deductions, uniforms or unpaid time where relevant?
  6. Do you have a clear, consistent way to calculate holiday entitlement and holiday pay, including for people with variable hours, overtime or variable pay where relevant?
  7. Are you keeping records of holiday entitlement, leave taken, carry over and holiday pay calculations in a way that can be kept and evidenced for at least six years?
  8. Have you reviewed your policies and templates to make sure they reflect day-one rights for paternity leave, unpaid parental leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave, and that you’ve got a clear process for more sensitive leave situations where needed?
  9. Does your whistleblowing policy explicitly cover sexual harassment as a protected disclosure, and do your team know how to raise concerns?
  10. Have your managers been briefed or trained on the most important 2026 employment law updates, especially around pay, holiday, sickness, leave and handling concerns consistently?
  11. If someone asked tomorrow, could you quickly pull up a clear record of an employee’s holiday, sickness, policy acknowledgement or key people documentation, without digging through emails, paper files or scattered spreadsheets?
  12. If the Fair Work Agency or another external party asked for evidence of your employment records, policies, holiday data or pay documentation, could you provide it quickly and confidently?

We don’t store your answers. Your results appear instantly and are designed to give you practical next steps, not legal advice.

0/12 answered

Where Breathe fits in

The day-to-day employment basics that matter most - contracts, policies, holiday, pay and records - are exactly what Breathe helps you keep tidy in one simple HR system.

With Breathe, you can:

  • Centralise contracts and policies so they’re easy to find, update and share.
  • Track holiday and sickness clearly with balances, history and key details all in one place.
  • Keep employment records organised so it’s easier to show what happened, when, and how decisions were made if questions ever come up.

So as employment law keeps evolving, Breathe helps you stay confident that your everyday employment basics are under control - and evidence-ready when you need them.

 

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