After a very long time without any significant new employment law developments (other than the various changes during the pandemic), we finally have three new pieces of legislation to report on.
All of them relate to enhanced family friendly rights and, in particular, two of them give additional rights to parents.
Here, Employment Solicitor Chris Dobbs details the new family friendly rights which are set to become law and outlines what this means for employees and employers.
What are the new family friendly rights?
The specific details of the new rights will be contained in specific secondary legislation (various Regulations) in due course but at this time we know about the following:
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
This will create a new day one right for the eligible parents of a baby who is admitted to neonatal care.
The leave will be an entitlement for up to 12 weeks in addition to the other forms of leave such as maternity or paternity.
Employees with at least 26 weeks of continuous service will also be entitled to statutory pay which is likely to be in line with the statutory maternity or paternity rates.
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
This act will provide greater protection to expectant parents and new parents when they return from any other form of leave connected with parenthood such as maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
An employer is already obliged, during a redundancy situation, to offer an employee who is likely to be made redundant priority for any suitable alternative vacancy if they fall into one of these categories.
The new act will extend that period of cover to the entire period of pregnancy and (in all likelihood) for a period of six months after return from family leave.
The Carers Leave Act 2023
This will create a new day one right for employees to take up to one week per year unpaid leave to provide or arrange care for a dependant who has long term care needs.
The particular notice periods will be laid out in Regulations and subject to these the leave can be taken in increments of either a day or half day over a 12-month period.
The right is likely to cover dependants who are ill or injured for a period of at least three months, those who are disabled under the definition of the Equality Act 2010, and those who have care needs relating to old age.
When are these acts coming into force?
The neonatal care rights are expected to come into force from April 2025.
The redundancy protections are likely to come into force imminently.
The carers leave entitlement it likely come into force in the spring or summer of 2024.
An Employment Solicitor’s View
Chris Dobbs, experienced solicitor in our specialist Employment Team, says: “Many would say that these rights are long overdue and that protection for those with caring commitments to take necessary time off is a vital change to employment legislation.
Whether the proposed change goes far enough and whether one week per year is sufficient is, of course, another question entirely.
Many employees with caring commitments will appreciate this additional week but at the same time they will often still rely on annual leave and other forms of unpaid leave offered entirely at their employers’ discretion.
Employers should be mindful of staff with caring commitments and it is good practise to have options available to them where possible.”
What are your thoughts on the extension to redundancy protection?
Chris continues: “The extension of the redundancy protection regulations has been on the table for some time and it may prove somewhat unpopular with employers who already struggle to know whether they are safe or not in making a pregnant employee redundant.
This does not make it impossible to make an employee on some form of parental leave redundant, but employers will need to be mindful of the extended protection following return from family leave.”
What about the new neonatal care entitlement?
“The entitlement to leave for parents of children who are in neonatal care is also a welcome addition to the list of family friendly rights.” Says Chris.
“It is, of course, re particularly difficult time for any new parents and this naturally follows in the wake of the introduction of parental bereavement leave in recent years.”
Will they be any further rights?
“It remains to be seen whether there will be an agenda for any further rights in addition to these as, of course, we still have not yet had the proposed employment bill which has been promised periodically since about 2015.” Chris concludes.
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