There have been several recent changes to employment law in the UK, with further changes expected to be in force during the next few years once the current draft Employment Rights Bill and secondary legislation has been approved in Parliament.
The BTHA’s lawyers, DLA Piper, has provided an overview for companies on the key changes and implementation dates to be aware of. Much of the detail of the Employment Rights Bill is still to be decided through further consultation and secondary legislation but members should make themselves aware of the key updates in preparation. We are continuing to monitor the Bill’s progress in Parliament, and we will look to update member advice as details are confirmed.
| DLA Piper 2025 Employment Law Updates | ||||||||||||||
| Topic | Employment Law Update | Effective Date | ||||||||||||
| Sexual harassment in the workplace | From October 2024 employers now have a new positive obligation to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The new duty requires employers to take positive and proactive steps to ensure they comply, including conducting, and regularly reviewing, thorough risk assessments and ensuring that effective policies and procedures are in place as well as comprehensive training. Further information can be found here: The Future of Work: Insights into the new Employment Rights Bill: #2: A new era of protection against harassment in the workplace – Be Aware UK | October 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Rates | April 2025 brings the annual increase to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and employment rates and limits.
The new NMW rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:
For full details of the increased rates and statutory payments please visit: April employment law changes – Be Aware UK |
1 April 2025 | ||||||||||||
| National Insurance Contributions | Employer’s contributions on salaries above £5,000 will rise to 15%. | 6 April 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Neonatal Care Leave and Pay | Regulations implementing the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 apply to babies born on or after 6 April 2025. | 6 April 2025 | ||||||||||||
| It will apply to parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care up to 28 days old and who have a continuous stay in hospital of 7 full days or longer. In these circumstances parents will be allowed to take up to 12 weeks of leave (and, if eligible, pay) on top of any other leave they may be entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave. | ||||||||||||||
| This is a day one right but employees will only be entitled to statutory neonatal care pay (at the same rate as statutory paternity pay) if they have 26 weeks’ service and give notice to their employer. | ||||||||||||||
| The leave must be taken before the end of 68 weeks beginning with the date of the child’s birth. | ||||||||||||||
| UK Immigration | There is a 7% increase on sponsor licence and worker visa application fees and a 120% increase on the costs of assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (rising to £525 from £239). For further information please see: UK Immigration update: immigration fees, UK ETA and eVisa update and the care sector – Be Aware UK | 9 April 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Employment Rights Bill 2024 | The government is currently consulting on various employment law reforms as set out in the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, although some of these changes are not due to come into force until Autumn 2026. Some of the more impactful changes are set out below:
Statutory Sick Pay The lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay will be removed so all employees will be eligible for statutory sick pay. Employees earning below the lower earnings limit will receive the lower of 80% of their average weekly earnings or the current rate of Statutory Sick Pay rather than the flat weekly rate. These changes are in addition to the removal of the waiting period making statutory sick pay a day one right. Unfair Dismissal The bill will enhance protection for unfair dismissal including by removing the two-year qualifying service requirement for entitlement for unfair dismissal rights. Employers will still be able to operate probationary periods but only where there are fair and transparent rules and processes, and new hires cannot be dismissed without reason or cause. Whistleblowing The occurrence or likely occurrence of sexual harassment and bullying and harassment in the workplace will be included as a ‘relevant failure’ in relation to disclosures qualifying for protection.
Low and Zero-Hours Contract Measures Those workers on low/zero hours contracts will have a right to guaranteed hours reflecting the hours workers have worked during a prior reference period. Workers will also be entitled to reasonable notice of shifts, shift cancellations and changes to shifts. Flexible Working The bill aims to make flexible working the default by only allowing an employer to reject a flexible working request where it is reasonable to refuse based on one of the existing eight statutory reasons (for further information see: Code of Practice on requests for flexible working | Acas). Where refused the notification of the decision must contain the grounds for refusal and explain the reason the employer considers the decision to be reasonable. Collective Redundancy Consultation The maximum period of the protective award for failing to adhere to collective consultation requirements will be doubled from 90 to 180 days. Trade Unions E-balloting with be delivered to increase participation in statutory ballots. There will be an increase in the notice period to employers of industrial action from 7 to 10 days. The expiry of a mandate for industrial action will be extended from 6 to 12 months. Fair Work Agency All existing state enforcement functions will be brought together under the Fair Work Agency which will take strong action against employers that exploit their workers and provide better support for businesses to do right by their staff. The agency will have the power to bring Employment tribunal Claims on behalf off workers, provide legal advice, give notice of an underpayment of statutory pay provisions (e.g. unpaid holiday pay and sick pay) and allow enforcement officers to enter employer premises. Equality Regulations will be made to ban dismissals of women who are pregnant, on maternity leave, and during a six-month return-to-work period except in specific circumstances. Leave Provisions The Bill introduces of “day-one” employment rights, including entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave. An obligation on employers to keep records of annual leave which are adequate to show whether the employer has complied with the entitlements conferred by the Working Time Regulations 1998 and retain such records for six years from the date on which they were made For further information in respect of the Employment Rights Bill please see: The Employment Rights Bill 2024: the most extensive overhaul of workers’ rights in generations? – Be Aware UK |
TBC (the most major changes not taking effect until Autumn 2026) | ||||||||||||
| Equality (Race and Disability) Bill | The Bill is expected to introduce a range of provisions to strengthen pay equity and inclusivity including extending equal pay gap reporting and extending equal pay rights to protect workers suffering discrimination on the basis of race or disability.
There is an ongoing government consultation on introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting requirements for large employers (i.e. those with 250+ employees). |
TBC (currently under consultation) | ||||||||||||
DLA Piper, offer a FREE telephone service for BTHA members who have general legal queries. The service is for issues that need a quick response of up to 15 minutes of FREE time. Please contact Tracey@btha.co.uk for more details.
Please note: more detailed legal advice may incur a fee which will be discussed before any work is done.
