If you run a care home, a healthcare agency, or any business in the health and social care sector, 2026 is bringing a wave of changes that you need to be ready for. From new sick pay rules to tighter immigration requirements, the legal landscape for healthcare employers is shifting significantly — and the time […]
If you run a care home, a healthcare agency, or any business in the health and social care sector, 2026 is bringing a wave of changes that you need to be ready for. From new sick pay rules to tighter immigration requirements, the legal landscape for healthcare employers is shifting significantly — and the time to prepare is now, not when the changes take effect.
At Davenport Solicitors, we work with care homes and healthcare providers across the UK, and we understand just how much pressure this sector is under. You are already dealing with staffing shortages, demanding shift patterns, and a mountain of regulatory requirements. The last thing you need is to be caught out by legal changes you did not see coming.
That is why we wanted to set out, in plain terms, the key changes heading your way and what they mean for your business.
This is one of the biggest employment law changes in years, and it will hit the healthcare sector harder than most.
From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay will be payable from the very first day an employee is off sick. The current three waiting days are being removed entirely. On top of that, the lower earnings limit is being abolished, which means that part-time, casual, and lower-paid workers — many of whom work in care settings — will now qualify for SSP for the first time.
The way SSP is calculated is also changing. It will be the lower of 80 per cent of the employee’s average weekly earnings or the flat statutory rate, which is expected to be £123.25 per week from April 2026.
What does this mean for healthcare employers? In a sector where sickness absence is already high and shift cover is difficult to arrange, paying SSP from day one will increase costs. If your current sick pay policy mirrors the old SSP rules — for example, if you do not pay anything for the first three days — you will need to update it. Your contracts, staff handbooks, and payroll systems all need to reflect these changes before April.
In our experience, the employers who manage sickness absence well are those who have clear policies, train their managers properly, and act early when patterns of absence emerge. These changes make that even more important.
If your business relies on overseas recruitment to fill care or healthcare roles, you will already know that the rules have been tightening. Since July 2025, employers can no longer recruit new care workers and senior care workers from overseas under the Health and Care Worker visa. This was a major shift for the sector.
There is a transition period in place until July 2028, which means that workers who are already in the UK on sponsored visas can still extend or switch into these roles, provided they have been legally employed by the sponsoring employer for at least three months. But the window is narrowing, and employers who depend on international recruitment for frontline care roles need to plan carefully.
Other healthcare roles, such as nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals, remain eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa. However, the minimum salary threshold has risen to £25,000 for roles on national pay scales, and the Immigration Skills Charge increased by 32 per cent from December 2025 — an additional cost that many healthcare providers are finding difficult to absorb.
The Immigration Salary List, which offers reduced salary thresholds for certain roles, is due to be phased out by the end of 2026. If you are currently sponsoring workers under roles on that list, you should be planning now for what happens when those reduced rates are no longer available.
We cannot stress this enough: if you hold a sponsor licence, compliance is not something you can afford to treat as a tick-box exercise. The Home Office has stepped up its monitoring and enforcement activity, and healthcare providers are very much in the spotlight.
As a sponsor, you are expected to keep accurate records, carry out right-to-work checks, report any changes to the Home Office promptly, and ensure that sponsored workers are only doing the job described on their Certificate of Sponsorship. If a worker does not turn up, leaves early, or their circumstances change, the Home Office needs to know.
The consequences of getting this wrong are serious. A suspended or revoked sponsor licence does not just affect one visa — it can bring down your entire ability to recruit internationally. For care homes and healthcare providers who depend on overseas staff, losing your licence could leave you critically short-staffed.
We would strongly recommend carrying out a compliance audit sooner rather than later. This means reviewing your HR systems, checking that your records are up to date, and making sure that everyone involved in managing sponsored workers understands their responsibilities.
Healthcare employers face challenges that many other sectors simply do not have. Your teams work long and irregular hours, often across nights, weekends, and bank holidays. Managing this within the framework of employment law — including working time limits, rest breaks, and holiday calculations — is already complex. The SSP changes from April 2026 add another layer to that.
With SSP now payable from day one, even short absences will have a direct financial impact. That means your absence management procedures need to be tight. You need clear policies on how sickness is reported, when self-certification is required, and how return-to-work conversations are handled. If your managers are not confident in dealing with these situations, now is the time to invest in some practical training.
It is also worth reviewing how you calculate holiday entitlement for shift workers and those on irregular hours, as errors here are one of the most common issues we see when advising healthcare clients.
Beyond the immediate changes, there are proposals on the table that could affect your longer-term workforce planning. The Government has consulted on extending the qualifying period for permanent settlement from five years to ten years for most visa holders. If this goes ahead from April 2026 as planned, it could have a significant impact on the retention of international healthcare workers who came to the UK with plans to settle permanently.
This is something we would encourage all healthcare employers to keep a close eye on. If your sponsored workers are uncertain about their long-term future in the UK, it may affect their commitment and willingness to stay in their roles. Having honest conversations with your team and seeking proper legal advice will help you navigate this.
The healthcare sector sits at the intersection of employment law and immigration law in a way that very few other industries do. That is why it is so important to work with solicitors who understand both sides and who know the practical realities of running a care home or healthcare business.
If we could give healthcare employers one piece of advice right now, it would be this: do not wait. Review your contracts, update your sick pay policies, audit your sponsor licence compliance, and make sure your managers are trained and prepared. The cost of getting ahead of these changes is a fraction of what it will cost to deal with a problem after the fact.
We regularly support healthcare providers with both employment law and immigration compliance. Whether you need help updating your employment contracts and policies, carrying out a sponsor licence audit, managing a complex sickness absence case, or understanding how the latest immigration changes affect your recruitment plans, our team is here to help.
We work with care homes, nursing homes, domiciliary care providers, and healthcare agencies across the UK. We understand the pressures you face and we give advice that is practical, clear, and focused on keeping your business compliant and your team protected.
Are you a healthcare employer preparing for the 2026 changes? Speak to our team for practical guidance on employment law and immigration compliance tailored to your sector.
Disclaimer
The material contained on this website contains general information only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. While every care has been taken in the preparation of the information on this site, readers are advised to seek specific advice in relation to any decision or course of action.
