Day One unfair dismissal defeated by House of Lords

A key part of the government’s Employment Rights Bill, due to come into force in 2027, was its pledge to make unfair dismissal a day one right.

The Employment Rights Bill also introduced an ‘initial period of employment’, likely to be nine months, during which employers could dismiss staff using a simpler process.  The government planned to consult on the rules for this process over the next year.

However, on 16^th July 2025, the House of Lords has voted to remove the initial period entirely. Instead, they have amended the Employment Rights Bill to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months.

New right to neonatal leave and pay will be introduced from 6th April 2025

On Monday 20 January 2025 the Government confirmed that working families with babies in neonatal care will be entitled to additional time off as a day one right.

Currently, many working families across the UK are having to return to work while their babies are sick in hospital, and these measures aim to address some of the difficulties that thousands of parents face when their baby is in neonatal care.  

Neonatal Care Leave 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.

These measures will allow eligible parents 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. 

The government has laid regulations to implement the change, which subject to Parliamentary approval, will take effect from 6 April 2025 and follows the passing of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act in 2023. 

Further details can be found here

Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - what the new law means for employers

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into effect on October 26, 2024, and requires employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.  This includes harassment from other employees, customers, or clients, and also harassment that occurs on social media. 

The main steps every employer is expected to take are:

• Conducting a risk assessment. 

• Having a robust policy in place – that is updated at least once a year.

• Putting in place meaningful training for managers - at least once a year and immediately for all new managers.

• An awareness programme for employees – so that they know what is not acceptable, from day one (so part of their induction).

• A reporting system – that also allows for anonymous complaints.

• A process by which all complaints are treated seriously, investigated (which requires further training for managers/approved investigators) and actioned.

• A support system for those who need it.

Further guidance can be found here