Expected Changes To Family Friendly Rights (Under The ERA 2025)

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) will introduce a number of changes to family friendly rights, including stronger protection against dismissal for employees who are pregnant or have been pregnant, and potentially also for those taking or returning from periods of other types of statutory family leave.

The government also intends to extend existing parental bereavement leave provisions to a more general entitlement to bereavement leave. This will apply to the loss of a wider group of persons, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

The government says the reforms are intended to make work more secure and family friendly. The reforms will also support people to stay in work and ensure workers are better protected during some of the most significant and difficult periods of their lives.

These enhancements are intended to come into effect during 2027, however much of the detail of the enhanced rights remains to be determined.

Throughout this article, we’ll explore expected changes to specific family friendly rights.

1. Dismissal during or after pregnancy

Employees who are pregnant, on maternity leave or within the protected return-to-work period (18 months from the child’s birth) already have a priority right for any suitable alternative vacancy in a redundancy situation. This is not expected to change.

The ERA 2025 is expected to introduce stronger protection against dismissal itself during pregnancy, maternity leave and for a period after return. The current proposal is that it will become unlawful to dismiss an employee during pregnancy, during maternity leave and for at least six months after return to work, apart from in specific circumstances.

The recent consultation, which has now closed, considered options such as introducing a new general test for fairness, under which employers would need to show that dismissing someone would be necessary to avoid serious harm to the business or other staff, or narrowing the scope of some of the fair dismissal reasons.

One example of how the scope could be narrowed is that, in conduct cases, misconduct would only be fair in cases of gross misconduct. This would mean that dismissal would only be permitted for serious misconduct, rather than minor issues such as lateness or poor attitude.

The detail of the enhanced right has not yet been finalised and further regulations will be needed to bring it into effect.

2. Dismissal during or after statutory family leave

The same enhanced redundancy protection referred to above, applies to:

• adoption leave
• shared parental leave
• bereaved partners’ paternity leave
•  and neonatal care leave.

Again, this is not expected to change.

The ERA 2025 permits the Secretary of State to make regulations about dismissal after a period of such leave (and already has the power to make regulations about dismissal during the leave period). It is not yet clear how the government intends to exercise these powers, although general views were sought on this in the consultation paper.

3. Bereavement leave

Currently, employees have a right to two weeks’ paid parental bereavement leave following the death of a child under 18, or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Under the ERA 2025, the right will be extended to an unpaid entitlement, from day one of employment, to a more general ‘bereavement leave’, which will apply to the loss of a wider group of persons, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

Those taking the new extended form of bereavement leave will have the right not to suffer detriment or dismissal for reasons related to the bereavement leave.

Regulations will set out the detail of:

• how the leave is to be taken; and
• the nature of the relationship with a person who has died that will qualify an employee to take bereavement leave.

The regulations must ensure that:

• where the person who has died is not a child, the available leave must be at least one week; and
• a bereaved person will be entitled to a period of leave in respect of each person who has died, if more than one.

The government has consulted on the content of the regulations and the consultation is now closed.

4. Pre-24 week pregnancy loss

The ERA 2025 includes the right for at least one week’s unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience pre 24-week pregnancy loss.

For the purposes of the right, pregnancy loss will mean the ending of a pregnancy after less than 24 weeks of pregnancy in any way other than by a live birth, or unsuccessful IVF transfers.

Regulations will specify:

• the relationships with the child who has not survived that will qualify an employee to take statutory bereavement leave;
• the type of pregnancy loss within scope of the provisions;
• the length of the leave; and
• when the leave can be taken.

The government has consulted on the content of the regulations and the consultation is now closed.

Watch this space

As much of the detail still depends on regulations, there is limited action employers can take at present to prepare for the changes. Once we have more information, employers will need to review family leave and bereavement policies and potentially redundancy and dismissal policies, train managers and plan for a more cautious approach to some dismissal decisions. For more updates on changes to employment law, HR, and health and safety, download our app for Apple or Android.