What is the current situation?
Parents are entitled to statutory maternity leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, adoption leave and unpaid parental leave to look after their children. Currently, statutory paternity leave is only available once an individual has been continuously employed for 26 weeks, with parental leave requiring one year of employment.
Since April 2025, parents whose babies need neonatal care after birth may be eligible to take statutory neonatal care leave.
Employees on certain types of statutory family leave have preferential rights in a redundancy situation, being entitled to be offered any suitable available vacancy before it is offered to others. This currently applies to those on maternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave, pregnant employees and those who have recently returned from maternity or adoption leave, and in some circumstances shared parental or neonatal care leave.
There is currently no statutory right for employees to take bereavement leave, other than parental bereavement leave, which is available if a child dies under the age of 18 or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements, which can include remote work, job-sharing and compressed hours. (These rights are being strengthened under the Employment Rights Act – read about this separately here.)
So what’s changing and when?
The Employment Rights Act will introduce significant changes to support working families, as follows:
- Protection from other types of dismissal (not just redundancy) for pregnant women and those on, or returning from, maternity leave or potentially from other types of family leave: The Act includes little information on this right. However a Government consultation, which closed on 15 January 2026, sought views on issues such as:
- what the specific circumstances for being able to dismiss a pregnant woman or new mother fairly should be;
- when the enhanced dismissal protections should start and end;
- any potential unintended consequences attached to this extension of rights and how to mitigate against these;
- how to make sure pregnant women and new mothers are aware of the extension of rights;
- how best to support businesses through the changes;
- additional action that could be taken to tackle any workplace disadvantage triggered by pregnancy and maternity, and to support women who have experienced this; and
- what other forms of family leave should be similarly protected.
- Statutory paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will become day one rights: Instead of requiring a minimum period of employment, statutory paternity leave and unpaid parental leave will become available from day one of employment. The Act will also remove the requirement for paternity leave to be taken before shared parental leave (or lost), which should give employees more flexibility on which type of leave to take.
- A new statutory right to bereavement leave: Employees will get a statutory right to at least one week of unpaid bereavement leave to grieve the loss of a loved one.
- A new statutory right to bereavement leave for miscarriages before 24 weeks: The Act will give parents who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy the right to unpaid bereavement leave.
A Government consultation, which closed on 15 January 2026, sought views on the statutory right to bereavement leave, including leave for miscarriages before 24 weeks, in respect of:
- eligibility criteria, including which relations of the deceased will qualify for bereavement leave;
- when and how bereavement leave can be taken; and
- notice and evidence requirements.
The Government plans to implement the above family leave measures on a phased basis.
Day-one rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, and removal of the prohibition on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave, will come into force from 6 April 2026. (Note that the changes to paternity leave rights will apply to babies born on or after 6 April, or whose Expected Week of Childbirth is on or after that date but are born early. In adoption cases, the rights will apply to placements on or after 6 April.)
The extended protections against dismissal and the right to bereavement leave (including leave for miscarriages before 24 weeks) are expected to come into force in 2027.
(In addition, it is worth noting that, outside of the ERA, bereaved partners’ paternity leave will be introduced from 6 April; this will enable bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life.)
What you need to do
The timing of some of these actions will depend on when the detail of the new laws is finalised and when the changes come into force. However, you can start to plan now:
- Update your family leave policies and practices as the changes take effect.
- Raise awareness among your managers on how the changes will impact your organisation. Your managers will need updated guidance on correctly applying the new rules.
How we can help
The Employment Rights Act strengthens protections for working families and widens access to family leave. For employers, this increases the need for clear policies, consistent decisions, and confident managers.
Our HR and legal experts can help you put the right foundations in place and reduce the risk of mistakes as the changes come into force. We can support you with:
- Updating family leave policies and documentation: Reviewing and updating maternity, paternity, parental, adoption, and bereavement leave policies, so they reflect new day-one rights and extended protections.
- Manager guidance and training: Helping managers understand what has changed, and how to handle sensitive situations consistently and fairly, reinforced through practical development including Changing Terms and Conditions of Employment and Essential People Management Skills.
- Managing dismissal and redundancy risk: Practical guidance to help you apply enhanced dismissal protections correctly for pregnant employees and those on, returning from, or recently taking family leave.
- Supporting bereavement and leave for pregnancy loss: Advice on introducing bereavement leave in line with new statutory rights, including support for pregnancy loss and handling these situations with care.
- Embedding changes into day-to-day practice: Helping you to move beyond policy updates, so changes are understood, applied correctly, and reflected in real workplace decisions.
Additional support and resources
Stay informed and prepared by signing up to our email updates, where we’ll share confirmed changes and key dates as they come into force. Members can access up-to-date guidance, template policies and letters in our HR & Legal Resources section, and our expert team is on hand to answer questions or provide practical support, whether or not you are a Make UK member. You can also contact our ERA enquiry line.
To see the planned changes at a glance, download our free Employment Rights Act planner for clear timelines and practical next steps. If you’d like a deeper insight, ask about our Audit and Impact Assessment - a structured review to help you understand your levels of risk, prioritise actions and plan with confidence.