Last December saw impressive, sweeping changes to employment rules become law as the Employment Rights Act received Royal Assent. The changes “ bring the world of work into the 21st century” as employees receive new protections, with changes that impact everyone, including “those on the lowest pay and in the most insecure jobs.”
The law requires employers to make reforms to their businesses, with changes set to happen over the next two years. Among the new requirements of employers are changes to paternity leave and parental leave, which will come into effect this April. These changes will see fathers able to take paternity leave from day one.
How is paternity leave changing?
Parents in the UK are set to gain stronger, day-one rights to time off work. In particular, fathers will have the right to paternity leave from their very first day at a new job. This brings their entitlement into line with maternity leave. Previously, they had to complete 26 weeks with an employer before being eligible.
This change will see an estimated 32,000 more fathers becoming eligible for paternity leave. This means that fathers will no longer have to stay in thankless or draining jobs just for paternity leave, as workplaces must offer paternity leave from the first day of employment.
Is it just fathers who benefit?
It’s not just paternity leave that’s changing. There are also changes being made to parental leave in general. A requirement for jobs to offer unpaid parental leave means that a whopping 1.5 million more parents will become eligible for unpaid parental leave.
These changes will stop parents from having to choose between being there for their child’s first days or protecting their jobs.
The Employment Rights Act will also introduce enhanced protections for pregnant women and new mothers, protecting them from unfair dismissal.
The new law also introduces a new form of bereavement leave for partners who lose their loved one in their baby’s first year. The new rights will give them up to 52 weeks of leave to grieve, care for their child, and begin to rebuild their lives.
Who benefits from the Employment Rights Act?
The Employment Rights Act doesn’t just benefit parents. It demands sweeping changes to workplaces that will beneficially impact almost every worker. Of particular note is that the changes will extend to “those on the lowest pay and in the most insecure jobs. ”
The Minister for Employment Rights, Kate Dearden said:
“Today is a landmark day in Britain, with over 15 million working people set to benefit from the Employment Rights Act.
“These aren’t just statistics – these are real people and real families. The Act will help save workers in some of the most deprived areas up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work, and support working families to juggle the demands of work and raising children. ”
Other benefits of the Employment Rights Act
As well as changes to parental leave and bereavement leave, there are a host of other benefits and new rights for employees in the UK. These include:
- “An end to exploitative zero-hours contracts ”
- “An end to unscrupulous ‘fire and rehire’ and ‘fire and replace’ practices ”
- “Strengthened collective redundancy rights ”
- “Strengthened Statutory Sick Pay by removing the lower earnings limit”
- “Establishment of the Fair Work Agency ”
- Changes to tipping law
- Expectation of employers to protect employees, using ‘all reasonable steps’, from sexual harassment and third-party harassment
- among many other changes…
The Fair Work Agency is responsible for actually enforcing the changes in the Employment Rights Act.
A timetable for when changes are expected to go into place can be found here.