Family friendly day one rights

Current position

The current legal framework provides access to family-related leave, subject to certain conditions, particularly length of service requirements. The statutory leave currently available, includes:

• Paternity leave: up to two weeks’ paternity leave can be taken by employees with 26 weeks’ service (assessed 15 weeks before the expected week of birth), subject to notice requirements
• Parental leave: up to 18 weeks’ unpaid leave can be taken by each parent before the child’s 18th birthday, but only after that parent has been continuously employed by their employer for at least one year. The parent must be an employee and have parental responsibility for the child or be registered as the child’s father on the birth register
• Bereavement leave: there is no statutory right for employees to take bereavement leave following a death, except for parents, who can take one or two weeks’ parental bereavement leave following the death of a child from 24 weeks due to pregnancy complications until the child reaches 18. Paid leave in these circumstances is a day one right.

Proposal

The Employment Rights Act (ERA) will introduce certain day one rights to support working parents in respect of paternity leave, parental leave and bereavement leave. The proposed changes include:

• Paternity leave: paternity leave will become a day one right for eligible employees. Under current ERA proposals, there will also be an option to take paternity leave after a period of shared parental leave
• Parental leave: the amount of unpaid parental leave will remain unchanged, but access to it will become a day one right for eligible employees
• Bereavement leave: the Act introduces a new statutory right to protected bereavement leave, extending the existing day one right to a wider group, including those who experience pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

Impact

The aim of these reforms is to make entitlements more accessible and flexible for working parents. However, not all types of leave will be paid, so the financial burden on working parents will remain.

Timeline

Changes to paternity and parental leave access are expected to come into force in April 2026.

The extension of bereavement leave is unlikely to be implemented until 2027, as further consultation will continue.

Dismissal protection during pregnancy

Pregnant women and new mothers have enhanced rights in redundancy situations: they must be offered suitable alternative employment (if available) once they notify their employer of pregnancy or if their expected date of childbirth was within the past 18 months. It is automatically unfair for an employer to dismiss an employee by reason of redundancy during pregnancy or maternity leave without complying with this requirement.

The ERA will introduce additional protection against all dismissals by making it unlawful to dismiss pregnant women, mothers on maternity leave and working mothers in the first six months after returning to work, except in prescribed circumstances. This enhanced protection will likely extend to those who have taken other forms of family leave, such as shared parental leave and adoption leave.

The current proposals are that consultation will take place until January 2026, with implementation likely in 2027.

Employer actions now

Employers should audit their current family-focused policies and strengthen internal processes for leave requests. In the meantime, employers should continue to monitor developments and prepare to communicate changes to managers.

Our team of specialist employment lawyers can help guide you through this and review existing policies. Our Client Knowledge Solutions (training) team can also provide bespoke manager training.