Employment Rights Bill

The Department for Business and Trade recently published four consultations concerning the implementation of key aspects of the Employment Rights Bill relating to bereavement leave, trade union reforms and protections for pregnant women and new mothers.

In summary, the four consultations are as follows:

Make Work Pay: leave for bereavement including pregnancy loss: The Employment Rights Bill extends and develops the existing parental bereavement leave regime to introduce a new day-one right to one week of unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience the loss of a relative, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy (more commonly referred to as ‘miscarriage leave’ - see our summary here). These are expected to come into force in 2027. This consultation aims to help shape the secondary legislation which will flesh out the finer detail of these new rights. Key issues explored in this consultation include:

• Which relationships between the employee and the person who has passed away should qualify for the bereavement leave entitlement - should this be restricted to immediate family or wider categories?

• Should miscarriage leave be restricted to the person who has physically experienced the pregnancy loss or available to others such as partners, co-parents and those expecting via surrogacy arrangements?

• Should miscarriage leave cover all forms of pregnancy loss, including abortion, and IVF embryo transfer loss?

• How long should unpaid bereavement leave (one, two weeks or other duration) and should the amount of leave vary according to the type of relationships to the deceased?

• When should bereavement leave commence, should it be continuous and what should be the cut off point for all leave to be taken?

• How and when should employees give notice, and should they be required to provide evidence?

Make Work Pay: Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers: The Employment Rights Bill will strengthen the existing protections during pregnancy, during and following periods of family-friendly leave. These will be fleshed out in regulations and this protection is expected to last six months following any return to work. This is expected to be implemented in 2027. Key issues explored in this consultation include:

• In what circumstances should dismissals be allowed?

• When the protection starts and ends?

• Which parents/forms of leave should be covered?

• How to increase awareness of these new rights?

Make Work Pay: duty to inform workers of right to join a union: The Employment Rights Bill introduces a new duty on employers to give a written statement to their workers informing them of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment and at other times. Key issues explored in this consultation include:

• Should the statement give workers a brief overview of the functions of a trade union, a summary of the statutory rights in relation to union membership, a list of all trade unions that the employer recognises (if any) and/or signpost to a GOV.UK page with list of trade unions?

• Should the statement adopt standardised wording (the government’s preference) or should employers be allowed to draft their own statement?

• Should the statement be delivered directly by email/letter or indirectly e.g. by notice board/Intranet? The government’s preference is that the statement should be delivered to new workers alongside their written statement of employment terms/contract and to existing workers through either method.

• The frequency with which the statement must be reissued after the beginning of employment – should this be every 6 months, annually or at a sector specific frequency. The government’s preference is annual reminders.

Make Work Pay: Right of Trade Unions to Access Workplaces: The Employment Rights Bill will formalise a trade union right of access by establishing a statutory right for trade unions to access workplaces physically, and to communicate with workers in person and also digitally. Key issues explored in this consultation include:

• The information that should be included in the trade union’s request for access.

• The information that should be included in the employer’s response.

• The form and manner of the access request and employer’s response notices.

• Notifications to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) and CAC determinations.

• Circumstances where access must not be granted/where it is reasonable for access not to be granted.