Key employment law updates | June 2025

Welcome to our monthly update, where we share upcoming changes to employment law.

Employment Rights Bill: government trade union amendments agreed at House of Lords Committee Stage

On 10 June 2025, amendments to the Employment Rights Bill proposed by the government in relation to trade union recognition were agreed at Committee Stage in the House of Lords. These include the following:

Once notified that a trade union has applied for recognition, an employer must provide the names, dates of birth, and worker categories for individuals in the proposed bargaining unit within five working days.

If the employer fails to do so:

• the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) may issue a remedial order; and

• continued non-compliance may lead the CAC to automatically declare the union recognised, giving it the right to conduct collective bargaining for the workers in that unit.

The negotiation period for unions and employers to agree on union access arrangements has been extended. Instead of the original 15 working days, the period will now be 20 working days, starting the day after the union notifies the employer that the CAC has accepted its application. The CAC may also extend this period further, with reasons.

This change also applies to cases involving changes to the bargaining unit or applications for derecognition.

After a union is recognised, either party can ask the CAC to review whether the bargaining unit is still appropriate—such as when there’s a significant change in workforce size.

However, under the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), this review cannot be requested if the CAC had issued a recognition declaration for that bargaining unit within the past three years.

The Employment Rights Bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords.

Women and Equalities Committee publishes report on paternity and shared parental leave

On 10 June 2025, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) published a report setting out the findings of its inquiry and call for evidence on options for reform of paternity and shared parental leave.

The WEC agrees with the government that the current statutory parental leave system is inadequate for supporting working families and needs a full review. While the government has committed to this review, the WEC notes a lack of detail on its scope and approach. To meet its promise of starting the review within a year of being elected, the government must launch it by early July 2025.

Key Findings

• Current system is fundamentally broken: The UK’s paternity leave entitlement (two weeks paid at approx. £187/week) is among the lowest in developed countries, leading to entrenched gender inequality and cultural barriers to paternal caregiving.

• Financial signal matters: Low pay particularly deters lower-income and self-employed fathers from taking leave. Only better pay would support broader uptake.

• Shared parental leave (SPL) underperforms: The system is too complex and financially skewed; uptake is low and does not effectively promote equal caregiving.

Recommendations

1. Introduce a standalone three-month, non-transferrable paternity leave (paid at 90% of salary for 4 weeks, then at SPL rate), to be taken once the mother returns to work.

2. Increase statutory paternity pay to 90% of earnings (capped) for at least six weeks, aligning it with maternity pay.

3. Simplify and broaden access to SPL, potentially including part-time leave and removing eligibility barriers like self-employment or employment tenure requirements.

4. Create a new Carers’ Leave entitlement of six weeks to help with short-term care responsibilities.

5. Commission research into how parents make caregiving decisions and explore international models like Germany’s partnership bonus and Portugal’s sharing bonus.

Implications

• Addressing pay, duration, and structure of paternal leave can significantly narrow the gender pay gap and support parental equality;

• Structural, rather than incremental, reform is needed to reshape workplace and cultural norms around fatherhood and shared caregiving; and

• There's mounting political and public support as evidenced by movements like the recent “dad strikes” and cross-party appeals for meaningful reform in this area.

Carers Week publishes Caring About Equality report

Carers Week is an annual awareness campaign to recognise the contribution of carers to society. The theme of Carers Week 2025, which ran from 9 to 15 June, is "Caring About Equality", intended to highlight the inequalities facing unpaid carers.

Among current and former carers in employment, 46% said they faced disadvantages related to staying in paid work and career opportunities, while 25% had reduced their working hours to meet caring responsibilities. An estimated 600 people in the UK give up work every day to provide unpaid care. This can have a devastating impact on carers' finances and wellbeing, but also leads employers to lose skilled workers. The government has estimated that £37 billion is lost each year due to carers being unable to work.

The report highlights that unpaid carers suffer significant inequalities across health, finances, education, career, and social life. It calls for systemic reform to ensure carers, who deliver essential support valued at billions, are supported, protected, and afforded equal opportunities.

Available training for managers

Given the significant forthcoming changes brought about by the Employment Rights Bill, there is no better time to upskill your managers via our transformational management development programmes to reduce risk, increase engagement, and enhance motivation. Our programmes involve utilising unique accelerated learning techniques that will boost people management skills for years to come, suitable for supervisors up to board level.  Furthermore, our seamless programmes link in with your policies and templates to bring about impactful change (with practical templates to bring your policies to life, if required). We link below further information on four of our flagship programmes:

Details of our current programmes are as follows:

• 21^st Century: An innovative four-day management development programme designed to equip managers with essential skills, knowledge, and behaviours to effectively manage performance and improve workplace culture. 

• Gender Diversity: We know that managers and employees lack confidence talking about gender diversity and managing a diverse workforce. That is why we've created this bespoke training programme to help you get ahead and shape your culture.

• Inclusive Leadership: We may not notice our unconscious biases, but they still influence our actions and beliefs. For leaders, it is crucial to recognise those biases and lead inclusively which is the focus of our one-day Inclusive Leadership programme.

• Prevention of Sexual Harassment: With a new duty to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment (such as training), it is more important than ever to act. This programme equips your workforce with the tools needed to identify and take conscious steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

• Upskill Managers to Manage: We can support you to navigate the challenges of integrating teams effectively to maximise post-integration success, emphasising the need for strong management, strategic alignment, and collaboration to overcome cultural differences and mitigate risks in an increasingly competitive market.

• Improve Employee Heath & Resilience: Improving the health and wellbeing of your people is a key requirement to driving a successful business. By educating employees on health and wellbeing strategies, we can help you to gain a competitive edge as your people improve their energy, productivity and overall wellbeing. Our wellbeing programmes deliver educational, fun and interactive sessions that are empowering and revealing.

Please contact Joanne Boyle (Legal Director) if you would like to discuss further how we can support your organisation.