Fairer workplaces for women: Employment Rights Act 2025

Hi, I’m Laura and I joined PCS last year. Before joining PCS, and while working at the IWGB union, I collaborated with various women’s organisations, including Latin American Women’s Rights. 

My work focused on providing guidance on legal rights, driving workplace campaigns to challenge exploitative practices, and actively connecting women with the support services they needed to navigate unsafe and insecure conditions.

In this blog I’ll quickly go through four areas of change which will be of particular relevance – though not exclusively – to women members: family leave, sexual harassment, flexible working, and duties around the gender pay gap and menopause.

Statutory family leave 

Parental leave: As of 6 April, parental leave is a “day one” right; the 52-week qualifying period has been removed.

Paternity leave: Similarly, from 6 April, a two-week paternity leave is also a “day one” right. The 26-week qualifying period has been removed for the leave but remains for paid leave. Also removed is the restriction that prevented paternity leave from being taken if shared parental leave had already been taken. 

Bereavement leave: From 2027, there will be a new right to unpaid bereavement leave which will extend beyond the loss of a child to cover a wider range of loved ones, including early pregnancy loss (before 24 weeks). Separate to the Employment Act, in Northern Ireland, an extension to existing legislation means that parents are entitled to two weeks of statutory paid leave if they experience pregnancy loss at any stage of pregnancy.

Sexual harassment 

Anyone disclosing sexual harassment is now given protection from detriment and unfair dismissal under whistleblowing laws.

From October, employers’ duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is heightened – instead of “reasonable steps”, they must now take “all reasonable steps”. The really good thing about this is that employers will need to take a more comprehensive, evidence-based and proactive approach. One-off compliance exercises won’t work. In the debate over this legislation, there was resistance to including the word “all” and there won’t be an actual definition until next year. Even so, it’s now the case that if an employer has not complied then an employment tribunal can increase compensation by 25%.

Also from October, employers become liable for sexual harassment by third-parties (such as clients, customers, or contractors) unless they can demonstrate they took "all reasonable steps" to prevent it. 

Flexible working 

Currently, there’s a day one right to request flexible working arrangements but employers can refuse requests if there is a genuine business reason. An employee can make two requests in a 12-month period and the employer must settle a request one way or the other within two months of a request.

From 2027, employers will be required to explain in writing the specific reasons for refusing flexible working (from a pre-defined list) as well as why they think these reasons are reasonable.

Menopause and gender pay gap 

Since 6 April, employers are encouraged to have clear menopause policies that could encompass, for example, flexible working, workplace adjustments, support services, line management training as well as adaptions to sickness policies. Employers should also produce plans for closing their gender pay gap, and then evidence that these plans are working. This could mean things like mentoring, structured recruitments and promotions, or career development initiatives.

From 2027, these requirements will become mandatory. 

Celebrate then move on

There’s much to celebrate in the recent Employment Rights Act, even though there is much more work needed to create truly fair workplaces and society. Women’s issues are union issues and these protections are in no way guarantees that workplaces will suddenly become fair for women. 

And there are further protections that we should be seeking. For example, the current statutory leave provisions remain insufficient, from the point of view of the amount of leave provided (as little as 2 weeks for paternity leave) as well as the amounts paid (or not paid) during leave. 

As long as there’s sexism and misogyny, unions will need to keep fighting for these rights.