Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA)

      Overview of Change   

• Statutory Paternity/Co-Parent Leave will become a day one right. There is no change for University employees as this is already offered from the first day of employment and enhanced from 2 to 12 weeks at full pay.

• The current restriction preventing employees from taking Paternity/Co-parent leave, if they have already taken Shared Parental Leave, will be removed.

• Ordinary Parental Leave will become a day one right for all employees, removing the previous 12-month service requirement. 

• From 18 February 2026, newly eligible employees can give notice that they intend to take any of the leave above leave.
   

• Relevant family leave policies and staff handbooks are being updated.

• Employees and institutions should be aware that with effect from 6 April 2026:

  • employees can take Paternity/Co parent leave before or after Shared Parental Leave

  • employees can take Ordinary Parental Leave from their first day of employment with the University

  • existing processes for requesting family leave remain the same.

• Enables bereaved fathers and partners to take up to 52 weeks of Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the first year of the child’s life.

• A new policy is being developed.
• Preliminary information concerning the forthcoming right is being added to the Paternity/Co-Parent Leave Policy and any enquires about this should be referred to the relevant HRBP team.

Statutory Sick Pay

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will become payable from the first day of absence, the lower earnings limit for eligibility will be removed and the SPP calculation is being amended.

• Relevant policies and staff handbooks are being updated.
• For employees who are eligible for occupational sick pay, this change will not alter current arrangements, as occupational sick pay is already payable from the first day of absence and is normally more generous than statutory sick pay. 
• Casual workers will be eligible to receive SSP from the first day of absence. 
• Existing processes for reporting and recording sickness absence remain the same. 
• Institutions should: 
  • strengthen their record-keeping for sickness absence;
  • ensure that periods of sickness are input accurately into the CHRIS system in a timely way.
• Further information will follow on how SSP should be managed for staff without regular work patterns i.e. casual workers.

• Sexual harassment will qualify as a protected disclosure under whistleblowing legislation.

• Staff with concerns regarding behaviour relating to sexual harassment should refer to the Dignity at Work Policy, Breaking the Silence Webpage and the Whistleblowing Policy.

• Institutions and those with management responsibility must be aware of their duty to take steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

• Relevant HRBP teams should be contacted for advice and guidance if a concern related to sexual harassment is raised. 
   

• Simplification of process for trade union recognition.
• An updated Code of Practice is expected to come into force in October 2026.

• Institutions and those with management responsibility should note this change.

Gender Pay Gap and Menopause Action Plans

• Employers with 250+ employees will need to create action plans around menopause and gender pay gaps.
• These will be voluntary from 6 April 2026. They will become mandatory sometime in 2027.

• The University has already published actions relating to the gender pay gap in the University’ Athena Swan Action Plan.
• The University will be publishing a menopause action plan. Revised Menopause Guidance and support and resources can be found on the Menopause Support webpages. 
• The University’s Recruitment Guidance - salary appointment guidance should be rigorously applied and followed.

• The maximum protective award for failure to follow collective consultation rules will increase from 90 to 180 days’ pay, with tighter consultation thresholds to follow. 

• Institutions and those with management responsibility need to note the significant cost of failing to comply with collective consultation rules (where 20 or more redundancies take place within a 90-day period).
• The University’s Organisational Change Policy should be followed and guidance sought from the relevant HRBP Team.

• This new enforcement body will oversee compliance with core employment rights such as the national minimum wage, holiday pay, sick pay and unfair dismissal. It will bring together the work of existing enforcement bodies. 

• The Act also imposes a new specific obligation on all employers to keep records demonstrating compliance with holiday entitlement (including the amount of leave and pay). 
   

• In time, the Fair Work Agency will have wide-ranging powers including issuing penalties for non-compliance. 
• There will be increased responsibility on institutions to keep accurate holiday records.