Maternity & paternity
Pregnant employees are entitled to take 52 weeks' maternity leave. Pregnant employees' partners are entitled to take two weeks' ordinary paternity leave provided that they have the required continuous service.
Parents with babies due on or after 5 April 2015 are entitled to take shared parental leave. Shared parental leave enables mothers to commit to ending their maternity leave and pay at a future date, and to share the untaken balance of leave and pay as shared parental leave and pay with their partner.
Jack’s Law: Statutory parental bereavement leave rules to start in April 2020
Parents who suffer stillbirth or loss of a child will be entitled to two weeks’ leave.
Sacked pregnant worker wins £17k compensation from Liz Earle Beauty Company
Helen Larkin was made redundant at eight months' pregnant.
Family-friendly rights: what to look out for in 2020 and beyond
Brexit seemed to put the brakes on progress for family-friendly rights last year, but 2020 and beyond could see some...
April 2020 statutory maternity, paternity and sick pay rates published
The government has published the proposed statutory rates for maternity pay, paternity pay, shared parental pay, adoption pay and sick...
Top 10 HR questions December 2019: Sickness absence and unused annual leave
How much control can employers have over the timing of employees’ annual leave?
Employers with holiday years that run from...
‘Protect workers’ rights after Brexit’, voters urge Boris Johnson
Two-thirds of people who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election want the new government to protect or enhance workers’...
The 10 most important employment law cases in 2019
We round up the most significant cases of the year including legal judgments on CCTV, restrictive covenants, enhancing shared parental leave, collective bargaining and more...
Top 10 HR questions November 2019: IR35, Christmas parties and PILON
Pending a review announced by chancellor Sajid Javid, reforms to the IR35 rules are due to be extended to the...
Only 15 FTSE 250 firms publicise parental leave policies
Only 15 of the organisations in the FTSE 250 are telling job candidates how much paid leave they could expect...
What needs to change before we can close the gender pay gap
Headline-grabbing proposals can only take us so far. Cultural shifts and changes in shared leave, maternity and paternity benefits are needed before we can truly get to grips with the gender pay gap.
Labour promises 12 months of maternity pay
The Labour Party has pledged to increase statutory maternity pay from nine to 12 months as part of a raft...
Top 10 HR questions October 2019: Right to be accompanied
Should employers give employees the right to be accompanied to meetings under a redundancy procedure?
Such a meeting could ultimately...
Standard Life Aberdeen offers nine months’ fully paid leave for all new parents
Standard Life Aberdeen will offer nine months’ fully paid leave from January.
Government considering making employee references mandatory
The government has said it will consult on the idea that employers should be required to provide, as a minimum,...
MPs’ staff call for transfer of rights when they move offices
MPs’ employees have called for the protection of employment rights such as sick pay and parental leave if they move between parliamentary offices.
