Additional Legal Protection for Parents and Carers

On 24.05.2023, by Royal Assent, the:

• Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

• Carer’s Leave Act 2023

• Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

Have become Acts of Parliament.

Each of these Acts will provide protection to parents and unpaid carers at work and will result in the amendment of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in order to give that additional protection.

Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

At this time, employees on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave receive additional protection from redundancy. This consists of employers having a legal obligation when faced with a redundancy situation, to offer those employees whilst still on leave, a suitable role - if one exists - as an alternative to redundancy.

The introduction of this Act will extend this current protection by an additional six months from the date when the employee returns to work after their maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.

The Act will also extend this protection so that pregnant employees, who were not covered previously, are also covered from the point when an employee informs their employer they are pregnant and before they start their maternity or shared parental leave.

Carer’s Leave Act 2023

This Act ensures that employees who care for a dependant with a long-term care need will be entitled to a statutory entitlement of one week of unpaid leave per year.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

In addition to other statutory leave that parents are already entitled to (maternity, paternity or adoption leave), this new Act will ensure that eligible parents whose newborn baby requires neonatal care, with up to 12 weeks of paid leave.

In regard to the above, the Government says that it intends to lay down secondary legislation ‘in due course’ to implement these new entitlements. Unhelpfully though, they haven’t given any indication yet as to when we might expect these regulations to come into force.

If you would like any further information on this article, or would like to discuss your employment law and HR matters, please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@alphr.uk and we will be delighted to help you.