New legislation will bring in the following new rights for employees:
- For carers, there is the Carers Leave Act 2023, offering a new right to carers (this has a broad definition) to take ‘carers leave’ of one-week unpaid leave to care for a dependent with long-term care requirements. We still don’t have the regulations; we’ll update when we do but we expect implementation around spring 2024.
- Whilst employees still retain all family leave rights, there is now the Neonatal Care (Leave & Pay) Act 2023. In addition to usual paternity and maternity rights. This offers up to 12 weeks of neonatal leave and pays for any parents of babies born prematurely (and require 7 days of hospital care) commencing from the day the baby begins such care (within 28 days of birth). Implementation of this right is also unclear, likely in 2025.