The Government has laid draft Regulations before Parliament to implement the introduction of statutory neonatal care leave and pay, which subject to Parliamentary approval, will take effect on 6 April 2025 (see here, here and here). 

This new legislation will introduce a new day one right for eligible employees to receive between one and 12 weeks’ paid leave (in addition to other statutory family leave) to care for a child who is receiving, or has received, specialist neonatal care following birth. It will apply in respect of babies born on or after 6 April 2025 who are admitted into neonatal care within 28 days of birth and whose neonatal care continues uninterrupted for seven full days or longer. 

To read our e-alert on these new entitlements, see here. A template policy and webpage are available to Make UK members in our HR & Legal Resources (although note these are subject to any changes that may be needed as the Regulations make their way through the Parliamentary process).

We will be exploring these new rights and other forthcoming legislative developments in our Spring Employment Law Updates. Click here to book your place. 

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser and/or access further information in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.

All employers are under a duty to prevent illegal working. By conducting right to work checks in the prescribed manner, an employer can ensure that their new recruit, or existing employee, is allowed to work the UK. But what about agency workers or self-employed contractors – should you carry out right to work checks on these individuals?

The Employer’s guide to right to work checks – which the Government updated in September 2024 – strongly urges employers to carry out right to work checks on anyone entering a work relationship, including self-employed individuals and substitute arrangements. The guidance states:

“Even if the workers you use or supply are not your employees…there are compelling reasons why you should check that any such workers have a right to work in the UK. Some examples include:

  • If illegal workers are removed from your business, it may disrupt your operations and result in reputational damage.
  • There could be adverse impacts on your health and safety and safeguarding obligations, as well as potential invalidation of your insurance, if the identity, qualifications and skill levels of individuals doing work for you are not as claimed.
  • Different legislation specific to recruitment businesses requires that right to work checks are established.
  • Right to work checks are also a requirement of the majority of international best practice standards and the audits that go with them.

This list is not exhaustive.

Accordingly, you are strongly encouraged to check that your contractors and labour providers carry out right to work checks in accordance with this guidance on people they employ, engage or supply (or carry out these checks yourself). This includes anyone in your supply chain using a substitute to perform work on their behalf.”

According to a recent Government press release (see here), illegal working arrests have increased by 25% since the general election in July 2024 – showing the emphasis the new Labour Government is placing on right to work checks – and over recent years a significant number of sponsor licences have been revoked. 

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser for guidance on immigration issues. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, our expert HR and legal advisors can offer guidance on a consultancy basis.  For further information, click here.

Make UK’s Q1 HR Bulletin Survey is now live and will remain open until 12 March 2025. This survey asks about your recruitment activity and pay settlements over the last three months. It also asks about your views on the forthcoming increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage, and the impact you expect these rises to have on your business over the next 12 months against the backdrop of wider increases in employment costs.

The information you provide, which we will publish at the end of March, will be used to share valuable pay settlement data so that companies can benchmark their pay data against others.  We will also use the NLW questions to input into the Low Pay Commission’s report on the rates for the coming years, as well as our wider campaigning on the impact of employment related costs on businesses. If you any questions or further contributions beyond the closing date of the survey, please email the Make UK Policy Team.

A “stress survey” is an HR tool which some organisations use to gain a broad indication of how well their staff rate their employer’s performance in managing the risks associated with work-related stress.  

Typically a stress survey (which some employers prefer to call, or incorporate into, a “wellbeing survey”) involves asking a company’s workforce (or particular divisions or departments) a series of questions focusing on six key areas which, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health and wellbeing, lower productivity and increased sickness absence.  

A typical survey would present employees with statements such as “I have unachievable deadlines”, “I am pressured to work long hours”, “I can decide when to take a break”, etc. and ask them to what extent the statement applies to them (i.e. “never”, “seldom”, “sometimes”, “often”, or “always”). Surveys can be carried out in face-to-face or telephone interviews or via an online questionnaire (with answers anonymised in all cases). 

If the survey results identify trends, for example showing consistent pressure to work long hours in a particular department, this can act as a prompt for the employer to review job design and working practices in the relevant area. 

Employers should, however, be wary of conducting such a survey if they are not actually prepared to take action to address the issues the survey identifies. Failure to do so could potentially put the employer at more risk in the event of a claim than if they had not done the survey in the first place. 

Make UK’s HR Consultancy team can provide stress and wellbeing surveys and assist companies in conducting them, analysing the results and identifying recommended actions to address any issues that are revealed by the survey. We can also support you in drafting and implementing a stress/mental health policy. If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser or access further information in the HR & Legal Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, please contact us for further details.

Acas has published new advice on neurodiversity to help employers create inclusive organisations and raise awareness of neurodiversity at work – see here and here. 

The guidance notes that language in this area changes over time, and that neurodivergence is still being researched and understood. Acas uses the term “neurodivergent” to describe someone whose brain works differently to what is considered more typical, and outlines some common types of neurodivergence in the guidance (including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette's syndrome). It notes that some neurodivergent people do not see themselves as disabled, but being neurodivergent will often amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010. 

From a practical perspective, Acas explores what employers should do if they suspect that an employee may be neurodivergent (including treating the situation sensitively and framing the conversation with the employee positively by focusing on what support and reasonable adjustments might help). It also gives practical pointers on how employers can manage capability or conduct concerns relating to neurodivergent employees. It outlines the benefits of creating a neuroinclusive workplace and recommends various measures to achieve this, including reviewing recruitment processes, raising awareness of neurodiversity (for example via awareness days and campaigns) and providing training and support for managers. 

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak with your regular adviser about neurodiversity and/or access information on related issues such as disability discrimination in our HRL Resources. If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support on this topic or to access our resources. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.