Updates have been introduced to the Employment Rights Act 2025 due to legislative changes. Here are the key things for you to be aware of as a manager... 

Paternity leave and ordinary parental leave

• Ordinary paternity leave and unpaid parental leave are day one rights from the first day of employment. (The policy has been updated to reflect this update in legislation). As a day one right, new employees can give notice of leave from their first day of employment.
• Employees are now able to take paternity leave after shared parental leave.
• Fathers or partners can take up 52 weeks of unpaid leave if the mother or primary adopter passes away.

Statutory Sick Pay

• SSP is payable from the first day of sick leave. This will not impact most RBBC employees as our occupational sick pay is paid from day one, but may be relevant if someone has used up their occupational sick pay entitlement and has a further period of sick leave.

• There is now no minimum earnings threshold to be entitled to SSP.

Whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment

• Sexual harassment is now classed as a ‘qualifying disclosure’ under whistleblowing law meaning those who make a sexual harassment disclosure have protection from detriment and unfair dismissal.

Duty to keep holiday records

• There is a new legal requirement to keep employee annual leave and holiday pay records for a minimum of 6 years. This includes information such as carried over, holiday pay and payment in lieu of annual leave.
  
  
• Leave records are held in iTrent, however as managers, please ensure all annual leave is recorded and that your team are using their full leave entitlement in line with their leave year.
• The equivalent of one week’s leave may be carried forward in line with contracts (so for a full time person this will be 36 hours, for someone working a 20 hour week they can carry forward 20 hours).  All other annual leave should be used in the relevant leave year.

Ordinary unfair dismissal claim

• Currently someone requires two years continuous service to be able to make an unfair dismissal claim. This reduces to 6 months continuous service in January 2027.
  
  
• This reduction in the service required means it is additionally important that new employees are robustly supported during the probation period in a timely way and any concerns are addressed and documented, and discussed as early as possible with your HR Advisor.