Employment law - Looking Ahead

The Government has launched a review of parental leave and pay in Great Britain, which is expected to last 18 months. It will consider all types of parental leave and pay, including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement leave and pay, and unpaid parental leave and maternity allowance.

Whilst improvements to parental leave rights are already expected under the Employment Rights Bill (including ‘day one’ rights to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave), this review intends to go further and aims to improve the whole system. Very broadly, the review aims to articulate objectives for the system, assess what is and is not working for families and employers, explore options for an improved system, and develop a roadmap for improvement.

The first stage of the review is a public call for evidence that will run until 25 August 2025. Employers might wish to consider responding to the call for evidence by this deadline.

As set out in our previous briefing, the failure to prevent fraud offence will come into force on 1 September 2025 and ‘large organisations’ must have their fraud procedures in place by then.

Employers should take steps now to ensure that their fraud procedures comply with the guidance issued by the Home Office so that they are ready in time for 1 September 2025. To assist with this, TLT has developed a risk assessment tool for employers to proactively manage their fraud risks and ensure compliance with the new standards. This tool is designed to help employers identify their risk ratings and pinpoint areas of concern.

As set out in our previous briefing on the government’s roadmap for reform, the following government consultations are planned for Summer / Autumn 2025:

• ‘day one’ unfair dismissal rights
• various trade union measures
• fire & rehire
• regulation of umbrella companies
• bereavement leave
• rights for pregnant workers
• ending ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts

Once the ERB receives Royal Assent – which is anticipated for Autumn 2025 (probably October 2025) – the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 will be repealed immediately. The government has confirmed that various other industrial relations reforms will take effect shortly afterwards (see our previous briefing here).

On 17 July 2025, the government issued a call for evidence on unpaid internships, which can be found here. This will close on 9 October 2025.

At the House of Lords Report Stage on the ERB last week, the government confirmed that it will be publishing a consultation on employment status by the end of the year. It was also suggested in an earlier House of Lords debate that the government will be consulting on options for reform of non-compete clauses in employment contracts “in due course”. Employers should keep a watching brief for further developments.

It is also possible that we might see publication of the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill by Autumn 2025. Employers should watch out of this as it will set out further details of what the government is proposing after its recent consultation and call for evidence.

As set out in our previous briefing, s17 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will come into force on 1 October 2025 and will void provisions in any agreement which purport to prevent a victim (or someone who reasonably believes they are a victim) from making disclosures about criminal acts to law enforcement agencies, regulators or professional advisors/support services.

Employers should consider their approach to the inclusion of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in agreements, update any COT3s/settlement agreement templates as necessary and seek legal advice when in doubt. As set out in our previous briefing, the government is also proposing that NDAs in relation to allegations of harassment and discrimination will be unenforceable, although the timing of this reform remains unclear for now.