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29 January 2026

UK Employment Rights Act 2025: Family-friendly Rights And Equality

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A&O Shearman

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As you will see in UK Employment Rights Act 2025: family-friendly rights and equality, much of the detail on parental leave changes remains subject to consultation and will be set out in future regulations.
United Kingdom Employment and HR
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This is the second in our series of Employment Rights Act 2025 reference tables. This instalment covers the key changes to equality law and family-friendly rights.

As you will see in UK Employment Rights Act 2025: family-friendly rights and equality, much of the detail on parental leave changes remains subject to consultation and will be set out in future regulations. While it is too early to implement substantive policy changes before regulations are finalised, now is the time to map which policies will require revision, line up stakeholders, and allocate resource so you can move quickly once the detail becomes clearer.

Separately, the duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment came into force in October 2024. The enhanced duty to take "all" reasonable steps comes into force this October. As we noted in our recent blog, now is a timely opportunity to review data from the last 12 months and update risk assessments.

We hope this helps you to forward plan with confidence. To access our first reference table summarising changes to basic employment rights and protections, please follow this link.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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