Almost 70% of businesses are unsure about changes to policies for staff on maternity leave

Family-friendly workplace bills

There are several Bills related to creating a family-friendly workplace that has recently been given royal assent. One is the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill, along with others like the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, the Carer’s Leave Bill 2022-23, and the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill 2022-23.

According to recent research, proposed legal changes regarding flexible working and carer’s leave may lead to lower staffing levels in businesses. However, the study also found that the biggest challenge for businesses would be reorganising work among existing staff to accommodate these changes.

Businesses identified several barriers to implementation, ranked in order of concern. These include the need to reorganise work among current staff, updating internal processes and policies, lack of guidance, training line managers on changes, and cost-related issues.

Alexandra Farmer, Head of Team and Solicitor at WorkNest, said:

“The movement on these Bills comes at a time when many businesses are short-staffed either as a result of recruitment challenges or staffing cutbacks. So, it’s understandable that allowing more flexibility across the board, and affording some employees additional entitlements, may be difficult to accommodate.

“There has been a lot of inactivity on these Bills since many were included in the Queen’s speech in 2019, however, they now seem to suddenly be moving at pace. It’s crucial that workplaces are flexible and family-friendly so employers should get the relevant advice on how to successfully make the required adaptations for staff as they come into force.”

WorkNest conducted a survey in May 2023. The survey involved 737 employers and focused on the modifications made to family-friendly rights and flexible working.

Employer advice on the Protection from Redundancy Act

The Protection from Redundancy Act is said to come into force at the end of July 2023. It is important to note that the newly acquired benefits will not be effective until the Secretary of State establishes new regulations to implement the changes.

Unfortunately, there is currently no information available regarding the timeline for these updates.
It’s best to ensure you have updated your policies to include pregnant employees for protection from redundancy.

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