The Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Act 2023 came into force on the 6th of April and is expected to impact an excess of sixty thousand parents.  Eligible parents can get up to 12 weeks of additional family leave and pay when their newborn needs neonatal care for 7 consecutive days.  In this episode of Employment Law Focus, Partner, Liz Cotton, and Senior Associate, Grace Maddison, discuss the key aspects of the act, including:  Employers’ obligations  The eligibility requirements and workplace protections for parents  The impact on existing family leave  The broader implications of the bill and how employers can prepare  This episode is a must-listen for HR teams, employers, and employees seeking to understand their new rights under the legislation.  Listen to the full episode here and get in touch with our employment team if you need support drafting your family leave policies. 

From enhanced worker protections to evolving rights for parents and carers, 2025 is shaping up to be an interesting year for both employers and employees. In the latest episode of Employment Law Focus, Charlie Rae and Amy Stokes, both partners at TLT discuss employment law developments to look out for in 2025. Key topics include: An update on the Employment Rights Bill and the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill The uplift to the protective award for failure to comply with the Statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement. Increases to statutory rates & national minimum wage and changes to national insurance. The Neonatal Care Leave & Pay Act 2023. The failure to prevent fraud offence coming into force in September 2025. The possibility of paid leave for domestic abuse victims as proposed in a new private member's bill. Listen now.

The Employment Rights Bill is set to redefine workplace protections and employer responsibilities. With significant changes to probation periods, dismissal laws, zero-hour contracts, and harassment protections, this bill will affect millions of employers and employees across the UK. In the latest episode of our Employment Law Focus series, Hosts, Partner, Amy Stokes, and Partner, Charlie Rae, break down all the proposed changes from the comprehensive 150-page bill into 10 key takeaways: Unfair dismissal reforms: The bill removes the unfair dismissal qualifying period and introduces changes to probationary reviews, granting unfair dismissal rights to an additional 9 million employees. Firing and rehiring practices: While not outright banned, reforms address the high threshold for firing and rehiring, making the process significantly more challenging. Zero-hour contracts: Proposed changes aim to end “exploitative” zero-hour contracts, requiring employers to offer guaranteed hours, reasonable notice of changes to schedules, and compensation if shifts are cancelled or ended early. The duty to prevent sexual harassment: Employers will have a legal obligation to take “all” reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, including incidents involving third parties. The bill also incorporates whistleblowing protections for sexual harassment claims. Trade union reforms: The repeal, in particular of the Trade Union Act, and the reduced notice period for strikes, could drastically hinder employers' ability to manage effectively during a period of strike or industrial action. Other topics covered include changes to flexible working requests, collective redundancy consultations, the establishment of a new fair work agency, day one leave rights, including the new bereavement leave entitlements, and the surprising aspects left out of the bill. The Employment Rights Bill is a game-changer for UK workplaces. Speak to our team to ensure your policies and practices are future-ready and aligned with all the latest reforms.

In the latest episode of our Employment Law focus podcast, Partner, Jonathan Rennie, and Knowledge Lawyer, Victoria Wenn, discuss the recent reforms to flexible working regulations that took effect on 6th April 2024.  Also covered are the legal and practical implications of adopting a four-day working week, something that has been introduced in several other countries, with pilots taking place in the UK already with some success. 

How would you react if you had won at an Employment Tribunal, only to be told that the Judge’s decision had been written for him by AI? This thought-provoking scenario recently became a reality when a Judge used ChatGPT in part of a judgement. While the Judge emphasised the importance of using AI tools judiciously, this incident raises critical questions about what this might mean for employment tribunals, employment law and potential implications for employees.

We discuss the important role that employers play in the lives of people who are neurodivergent and what best practice can look like in the modern workplace.

We discuss the plethora of new considerations HR teams need to be aware of this winter.

How can employers improve their approach to trans and non-binary inclusion in the workplace?

50 years on from the Sex Discrimination Act, sexism is unfortunately still common at work. We look at how gender equality issues are changing, and help HR and legal teams to navigate the risks, challenges and debates.

How can employers meet the changing expectations of regulators, investors, employees, job candidates and clients when it comes to race discrimination?

Five new challenges for HR and legal teams around returns to work with the advent of hybrid and remote working.

Are employers ready for the rise of the disability agenda?

How can employers address the stigma around mental health and wellbeing? What does proportionate support look like? And what new risks and challenges do they face?

Should HR be more involved in the design and rollout of workplace technology? We dig into this complex topic and highlight the issues HR and legal teams need to be aware of, and share our thoughts, cases and practical tips.

The pandemic has required many people to balance work with heightened childcaring responsibilities. The challenges are many and varied, from changing working arrangements to managing performance issues. In this episode, we look at some of the burning questions facing employers.

When it comes to employee monitoring, there’s a whole host of data protection and employment risks to consider, we unpack them in this episode.

It’s been talked about for a number of years but many employers still aren’t doing enough to reduce the risk of unconscious bias infiltrating people’s decisions about candidates and colleagues.

Flexible and agile working is on the rise. What do HR teams need to plan for as the Covid-19 pandemic subsides? We cover topics from discrimination and harassment to protecting employees’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Having an effective whistleblowing policy is now considered fundamental to good corporate governance, culture and risk management. In this episode we look at how to identify a claim; how to defend your reputation and how to manage an investigation.