On 10 October 2024, the UK Labour Government introduced the Employment Rights Bill into Parliament within their first 100 days in power. At the start of the election campaign, the Labour Party stated in their Plan to Make Work Pay that the Bill would significantly strengthen the employment rights of workers in order to improve current working conditions, boost productivity, foster economic growth and raise overall living standards. Given the recent data from the Office for National Statistics showing that parents constitute a large proportion of the workforce, with 75.6% of mothers and 92.1% of fathers with dependent children employed, the Government particularly aimed to develop the employment rights of working parents under the Bill.
How does the Bill plan to support working parents?
The Government has outlined that the Bill will develop family-friendly rights in the following manner:
- Currently, parents have to satisfy the strict eligibility requirement of being in continuous employment for 26 weeks to access 2 weeks of paternity leave and a year to access 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave. The Bill instead proposes to make paternity leave and unpaid parental leave a day-one right from the start of employment for all working parents.
- Paternity leave presently cannot be used by working parents after they have used shared parental leave, which is an entitlement that enables mothers to transfer up to 50 weeks of their maternity leave to fathers. In contrast, the Bill seeks to remove the restriction so that working parents can use shared parental leave before paternity leave and have greater choice in managing workplace and familial responsibilities.
- Working parents can currently use 2 weeks of parental bereavement leave as a day-one right from the start of employment if their child under the age of 18 has died or a stillbirth has occurred after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Bill further intends to provide an additional right to 1 week of unpaid bereavement leave for all employees to grieve the loss of a loved one, but the specific relationships that will qualify for use of the entitlement have not yet been clearly identified.
- At present, redundancy law provides a priority right for pregnant employees and working mothers who have taken maternity leave to be allocated a suitable alternative vacancy if there is one available. Yet, the Government proposes to make it generally unlawful to dismiss pregnant employees and mothers during the first 6 months of their return to work from leave.
- Employers can currently only refuse requests for flexible working hours if the refusal is based on at least one statutory ground, such as the burden of additional costs or an inability to reorganise work among existing staff. However, the Government aims to increase the acceptance rate of requests by introducing an additional requirement that obligates employers to provide an explanation on why a refusal on a statutory ground is reasonable.
In what ways does the Bill address the problems currently experienced by working parents?
Firstly, the Bill does confront aspects of employment law that curtail workplace flexibility. The current eligibility requirements to access paternity leave and unpaid parental leave limit many working parents from being able to cultivate a work-family balance. For instance, a joint report recently published by the Centre for Progressive Policy1 and Pregnant Then Screwed2 estimated that 1 in 5 fathers were ineligible to take leave following the birth or adoption of their child. The removal of strict eligibility requirements to access paternity leave and unpaid parental leave supports a greater proportion of parents to take time off work to participate in childrearing. Furthermore, many working parents prefer flexible working hours. The Modern Families Index 2023 found that a fifth of parents were unable to work flexibly because their workplaces or job roles did not offer the option. The obligation for employers to justify the reasonableness of their refusals of requests potentially provides greater transparency and fairness in the decision-making process, which could increase the acceptance rate of requests. Similarly, based on findings reported by the Department for Business and Trade that parents experienced greater choice and flexibility over their work and caring arrangements through shared parental leave, lifting the procedural restriction on when paternity leave can be taken in conjunction with shared parental leave could further support parents in achieving a work-family balance.
Secondly, the family-friendly provisions in the Bill improve the job security of working parents. The Women and Equalities Committee revealed that every year 100,000 women were estimated to experience harassment or negative comments in relation to their pregnancy or requests for flexible working hours and 54,000 women were believed to have been dismissed, made compulsorily redundant or had left their jobs due to mistreatment. Additionally, the Committee uncovered that fathers who exercise their rights to leave and flexible working risk job loss, demotion and negative comments. Mitchell explains that hostility towards working parents is due to the workplace being structured in accordance with the fully committed worker model, which prefers employees who prioritise paid employment over caring responsibilities. By placing a limitation on when employers can dismiss pregnant employees and working mothers, and through providing easier access to family-friendly rights, the Bill increases job security for working parents by helping to normalise caregiving in the workplace.
Is there scope for further reform?
Although the Bill aims to enhance workplace flexibility and job security, the low levels of pay received when exercising family-friendly rights limit the support provided for working parents to cultivate a work-family balance. If parents have been continuously employed for 26 weeks, paternity leave and shared parental leave is paid at whichever figure is lowest between 90% of weekly earnings or currently £184.03. If mothers have been continuously employed for 26 weeks, maternity leave is paid at 90% of weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, and then at whichever figure is lowest between 90% of weekly earnings or currently £184.03 thereafter. Low pay has since been cited by the Trades Union Congress as the biggest factor that has contributed towards 1 in 5 parents not taking paternity leave. Additionally, Twamley and Schober found that low pay had led to 51% of parents not wanting to take shared parental leave. Maternity Action also revealed that nearly 3 in 5 mothers have taken less maternity leave than they would have liked to because of low pay. The uptake of unpaid parental leave is also speculated to be extremely low due to the lack of pay associated with the entitlement. Despite the Bill being commendable in extending bereavement leave for all employees to use to grieve the loss of a loved one, the Bill does not provide paid time off work which Reed notes can ultimately hinder workplace flexibility. Even though there is limited data on the uptake of parental bereavement leave, the entitlement is paid at whichever figure is lowest between 90% of weekly earnings or £184.03 and can only be accessed if parents have been continuously employed for 26 weeks. Due to the strong correlation between higher uptake and income-related replacement pay, reform that provides parents with access to higher pay on leave, without the need to satisfy strict eligibility requirements, could be further considered to increase workplace flexibility.
Similarly, reform that strongly facilitates equally shared childcare between working parents could also help mothers and fathers in balancing workplace and caring responsibilities. The longer length and higher pay associated with maternity leave practically encourages mothers to be primary responsible for childcare, which has caused them greater difficulty in being able to balance paid and unpaid labour simultaneously. While fathers can access lengthier paid leave if mothers transfer their maternity leave to them through shared parental leave, fathers can only gain access to the entitlement if both parents have been continuously employed for 26 weeks. Moreover, mothers will receive close to income-related pay during the first 6 weeks of maternity leave than the lower statutory pay that fathers would receive if the leave was transferred to them during that time period. Even though the Women and Equalities Committee has observed that modern fathers want to be more involved in childrearing, the strict eligibility requirement, low pay, and guilt that fathers experience from disrupting leave initially allocated to mothers, have contributed towards a paternal uptake of only 5%. In order to further assist parents in achieving a work-family balance, Busby and Weldon-Johns recommend providing lengthier, non-transferable leave with income-related replacement pay for fathers, which would offer greater flexibility for fathers and mothers to participate in childrearing and workplace activities, respectively.
However, since the Bill is only a proposal for new legislation and will likely be amended following parliamentary debates, the final version may include additional provisions that further facilitate a work-family balance for parents. Nevertheless, the family-friendly measures currently introduced in the Bill are a welcome step forward in enhancing the employment rights of working parents and could pave the way for significant development in the near future.
[1] The Centre for Progressive Policy is a UK-based think tank that advocates for the improvement of leave policies and access to childcare as part of their key agenda of promoting inclusive economic growth.
[2] Pregnant Then Screwed is a UK-based charity that works to enhance support for working parents by campaigning for stronger family-friendly rights and protections against workplace discrimination.