Welcome to Worked Up – your one-stop shop for the latest updates in employment and immigration law.

In this edition, we touch on the Supreme Court’s divisive ruling on the interpretation of sex under the Equality Act 2010, highlight the recently announced proposal to overhaul UK immigration laws, review the latest amendments to the ever-evolving Employment Rights Bill, and cover the latest legislation on the new statutory neonatal leave and pay rights.

If you would like to discuss any of the below updates, please do get in touch. Alternatively, if you would like to receive these updates directly to your inbox, please subscribe here.

Restoring control? What the immigration White Paper means for employers
Supreme Court rules that Equality Act definition of “woman” is based on biological sex
Amendments to Employment Rights Bill
A new delivery of neonatal leave and pay rights

If you want to stay ahead of the curve and keep updated on the key employment and immigration changes (including proposed legislation, consultations and case law) on the horizon over the next 24 months, check out our “What’s on the horizon” tracker.

The UK Government has proposed major immigration reforms aimed at reducing net migration and tightening employer obligations. Key changes include raising the skills and salary thresholds for visas, increasing English language requirements, and extending settlement timelines, all of which could significantly impact UK employers relying on international talent. For those keen to know more, we’ve written an article setting out the key changes and our advice on next steps.

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For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16

In a much-publicised landmark ruling, the UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the legal definition of “woman” and “sex” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex and not gender identity or acquired gender status through a Gender Recognition Certificate.

The decision arose from the case For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which challenged the Scottish Government’s inclusion of transgender women in gender balance quotas for public boards. Campaign group For Women Scotland argued that such inclusion misinterpreted the law and asserted that legal references to “woman” should apply to biological women only.

The ruling has already raised a number of practical considerations for employers, including, but not limited to, existing obligations related to ongoing protections for transgender employees, as well as the provision of single sex and mixed-sex spaces.

Whilst the EHRC has published an interim update on the practical implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment, more detailed statutory and non-statutory guidance is expected by the end of June. We will also be publishing further considerations on the practical steps employers may need to take following this decision so do watch this space.

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The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) has now completed its odyssey through the House of Commons and currently sits with the House of Lords at the Committee Stage. During its journey, there have been a number of proposed amendments (326 pages to be exact, based on the sum total of the last two amendment papers). To save you some reading that would no doubt send you to sleep, we’ve summarised some of the key takeaways below:

• “One establishment” rule: The ERB initially proposed removing the “one establishment” wording in respect of the collective redundancy threshold, which would have meant that employers would have had to collectively consult affected staff whenever they are proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees from across their whole organisation, rather than at a specific location / establishment.

Following the amendments, the “one establishment” wording will now be retained for smaller redundancy processes but in bigger restructures (where an, as yet unknown, higher threshold of redundancies is met) the collective obligations can be triggered even if the redundancies are across more than one establishment.  Given we don’t yet know what this higher threshold will be, some are speculating that it could be based on a percentage of the total employees across the business.

• Agency workers: The right to guaranteed hours and reasonable notice of shifts has been extended to include agency workers. As is currently the case for other workers, agency workers will now be entitled to compensation if their shifts are changed at short notice (although, unhelpfully, there is no definition of what short notice actually means). In parallel, new provisions allowing for a collective agreement to opt out of these rights if alternative terms are agreed upon have also been introduced.
• Zero hours and low hours workers: These workers will be entitled to additional protections, with the categories of automatically unfair dismissal being expanded to include dismissals where the reason for dismissal is that the employer has incorrectly given the employee a notice withdrawing a guaranteed hours offer in specified circumstances.
• Right to disconnect: The widely reported ‘right to disconnect’ (i.e. a right not to be contacted by your employer after work has finished) was not included in the original draft ERB and has also not been inserted in any of the recent sets of amendments. It would therefore seem that this is now dead and buried.

Consultations

The government has also issued a number of responses in relation to ongoing consultations which were introduced last year. The key takeaways from these responses are as follows:

Trade Unions

In response to the consultation on Creating a Modern Framework for Industrial Relations, the government has confirmed that it will:

• Reduce the notice period that unions must provide before strike action from 14 days to 10 days;
• Extend the mandate for industrial action following a ballot from six months to 12 months;
• Repeal the 50% industrial action ballot turnout threshold so no specific level of turnout is required; and
• Consider extending trade union access to include digital access.

Statutory Sick Pay

In response to the consultation on Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay, the government has confirmed that it will open up statutory sick pay (SSP) to those earning lower than the lower earnings limit. These employees will now have the right to sick pay at 80% of their average weekly earnings.

The government has already proposed scrapping the four-day waiting period for SSP, so employees will be entitled to SSP from day one of sickness.

Collective consultation

In response to the consultation on Creating a Modern Framework for Industrial Relations, the government has confirmed that it will increase the maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult to 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay to disincentivise employers from seeking to simply buy out employees’ rights. The right of an employee to claim a protective award cannot be mitigated under a settlement agreement.

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As of 6 April 2025, a new day-one right introduced under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 allows eligible parents to take up to 12 additional weeks of leave to care for a baby who requires neonatal care shortly after birth.

Babies born prematurely, with health issues, or low birth weight may require neonatal care, which can understandably be an incredibly critical and emotional time for families. This new right recognises the need for parents to be present during this period without impacting their right to take other family-friendly statutory leave (such as maternity, paternity or adoption leave). Parents who are eligible for neonatal leave include the baby’s birth parents, adoptive parents, intended parents (in surrogacy cases), or a partner living in an enduring relationship with the baby’s mother.

Neonatal care is strictly defined under the new legislation and includes medical care which is provided to a baby in hospital, at home (under consultant-led care) and any palliative care, provided that this care starts within the first 28 days of the baby’s birth and lasts at least seven consecutive days. Eligible parents will be entitled to one week’s leave per week of care (up to a maximum of 12 weeks), which must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth.

Eligible parents who have average weekly earnings of £123 and have worked for their employer continuously for 26 weeks or more will also be entitled to statutory neonatal pay, subject to complying with the specific notice requirements set out in the legislation (which employers can waive at their discretion).

In light of the new legislation, employers should ensure they have robust policies and procedures in place to reflect this statutory right to neonatal care leave and pay. Employers must also familiarise themselves with these new obligations and consider how they may impact redundancy procedures, as employees who take more than six weeks of neonatal care leave will fall into the group entitled to priority status in the event of redundancy. It is also crucial to consider the broader impact on employees whose babies receive neonatal care. Employers should provide appropriate support, particularly in relation to mental health concerns, and handle any post-leave absences with sensitivity. This will not only help support the employee’s well-being, but also help mitigate the risk of potential discrimination claims.

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