The reforms, part of Labour’s flagship new deal for workers, include unpaid parental leave from the first day in a new job, which the Government says will give an additional 1.5 million parents increased flexibility to share childcare responsibilities. Bereaved partners are also set to gain further rights to paternity leave from April under separate new laws. This will mean parents who lose their partner before their child’s first birthday will be eligible for up to 52 weeks of leave.
In a statement, Keir Starmer said: “The changes we’re bringing in will mean every new parent can properly take time off when they have a child, and no one is forced to work while ill just to make ends meet. This is about giving working families the support they need to balance work, health and the cost of living. We’re delivering a modern deal for workers. Stronger sick pay, parental leave from day one and protections that put dignity back at the heart of work. Because when we respect and reward those who keep Britain running, we build a stronger economy for everyone.”
Joanne Thomas - Usdaw general secretary says: “The Employment Rights Act is a new deal for workers, after an era of insecure work that has failed our labour market, businesses and individual workers. The Act also helps level the playing field for those employers who treat their staff with decency, ensuring that businesses cannot create a competitive edge by exploiting workers.
“The new Act is good for business, which is good for our economy, and will bring about sustainable growth by making work pay. Many employers rely on working parents to keep their business running. Being able to access rights to leave to deal with caring responsibilities and balance work with life is a fundamental need that can make the difference between a working parent being able to hold down a job or not.
“Labour has made a good start in helping working parents since coming into government. A key priority for Usdaw is to address low take-up of parental leave by extending it to parents currently missing out, including those in low-paid insecure work and the self-employed.
“Usdaw is participating in the Government’s reviews of the universally discredited Universal Credit system, along with parental leave and pay. While we recognise that reforming Universal Credit and the framework of parental leave and pay will take both time and investment, these initiatives have the potential to make a real difference to working families, as has the rolling out of free breakfast clubs, new nurseries in primary schools and doubling free childcare to 30 hours a week.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with over 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion