Karen Plumbley-JonesThe past few weeks have seen a lot of action on the legislative front.
Employment Rights Bill – the Bill was introduced in the House of Lords and had its first reading on 14 March. It passed its second reading on 27 March. On 27 March, the Department for Business and Trade published 12 new factsheets on the Bill and amended a further eight factsheets. The Committee stage will start on 29 April.
National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025 – these were made on 26 March and increased the national living wage, national minimum wage and accommodation offset from 1 April. The national living wage for those aged 21+ is now £12.21 per hour.
Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2025 – this was passed on 14 March and increased the compensation limits and minimum awards payable under employment legislation with effect from 6 April. The limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal is now £118,223 (or 52 weeks’ actual gross pay if less). The limit on a week’s pay – used to calculate the basic award for unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay – is £719, meaning that the maximum basic award or statutory redundancy payment is £21,570. The new rates take effect where the appropriate date for the cause of action (eg the effective date of termination in an unfair dismissal claim) falls on or after 6 April.
Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025 – this was made on 12 March and increased the rate of payment for a range of statutory leave entitlements with effect from 6 April, including statutory sick pay (which is now £118.75 per week) and statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement pay (which are now £187.18 per week).
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 – two final sets of Regulations have been made under this Act. They set out the detail of the new rights to statutory neonatal care leave and pay, which apply in relation to babies born on or after 6 April who receive at least seven days of neonatal care.
- The Government published a press release on the new rights on 5 April
- On 6 April it published a suite of new guidance for employers and employees
- Acas published new guidance on 2 April
- We have also published a factsheet on the new rights
Equality (Race and Disability) Bill – the Government is consulting on how to implement mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers (with 250 or more employees), which will be included in the Bill. It says that the responses will help to shape proposals that will be included in the draft Bill. The consultation opened on 18 March and closes on 10 June. The Government has also published a call for evidence on equality law, which seeks feedback on areas of equality law, including the existing legal framework and possible reform. The areas covered include equal pay, pay transparency, combined discrimination, harassment protections, the public sector equality duty and the socio-economic duty. The Government intends that responses will help shape the measures to be included in the draft Bill. Responses are due by 30 June.
