2025 Employment Law Changes: Are You Up To Date?
- Robinson Grace HR
- Apr 10
- 5 min read
The last 12 months has seen many discussions around a wide range of changes to employment legislation including Sexual Harassment, the Right to Disconnect and Predictable Working Patterns. With some policies being scrapped while others were implemented, there has been some confusion about what action employers need to take to stay legally compliant.
This blog summarises the changes that have come into effect in the last twelve months and the actions organisations need to take if they haven’t already.
Our online shop contains ready-to-use and legally compliant policy templates that can simply be branded as per your organisation and implemented, and you will find links to them throughout this blog.
National Insurance Contributions
Effective from April 2025, the following changes to NICs come into effect:
The earnings threshold at which employers start paying NICs decreases from £9,100 to £5,000 p/a
The rate at which employers contribute to NICs rises to 15%, so for every £1 paid in salary above £5,000 p/a, employers now contribute 15p
To support smaller businesses, the Employment Allowance increases from £5,000 to £10,500 and the £100,00 eligibility threshold is removed
Actions to take:
Assess the financial impact of changes on payroll expenses and adjust budgets
Take full advantage of Employment Allowance to offset some additional NIC costs
Minimum Wage Increases
From 1 April 2025, National Minimum Wage rates for 2025 have increased:
National Living Wage (21 and over): £12.21 p/h
18-20 year old rate: £10.00 p/h
16-17 year old rate: £7.55 p/h
Apprentice rate: £7.55 p/h
Actions to take:
Review rates for all employees to ensure that all wages comply with new National Minimum Wage legislation
Neonatal Care Leave
From 6 April 2025, a new statutory entitlement provides eligible employees with additional leave and pay if their baby requires neonatal care as a day one right.
In addition to leave they may be entitled to, such as maternity, adoption and paternity, this new entitlement will allow eligible parents to take up to an additional 12 weeks of leave (and, if eligible, pay) where their child requires seven or more days of neonatal care before they are 28 days old. This is to provide crucial support for parents and carers to be able to spend time with their babies in hospital.
A standalone Neonatal Policy Template, as well as a comprehensive Family Policy Template, are available to purchase from our online shop.
Actions to take:
Ensure existing organisational policies and procedures reflect the change in legislation, or implement a policy if not already in place
Ensure managers are familiarised with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
Carer's Leave
The Carer's Leave Act 2024 came into effect on 6 April 2024. Under this act, employees are entitled to up to one week of unpaid leave per year to care for a dependant with a long-term care need. This leave is a day 1 right and can be taken from half a day up to a full week.
A Time Off for Dependants and Carer's Leave Policy Template, as well as an updated Family Policy Template, are available to purchase from our online shop.
Actions to take:
Ensure existing organisational policies and procedures reflect the change in legislation, or implement a policy if not already in place
Ensure managers are familiarised with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
Family Leave and Increased Protection from Redundancy
Employees taking maternity, adoption or shared parental leave now have increased protection from redundancy. Previously only protected during a period of leave, legislation now protects employees from the day the employer is first notified of an employee's pregnancy, and for 18 months after the child's birth or date of adoption.
Actions to take:
Ensure that existing Family Leave policies and Redundancy policies are updated to reflect the new levels of protection, or implement policies if not already in place
Ensure managers are familiarised with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
Increased Flexibility for Partner (Paternity) Leave
Changes to legislation now mean that employees:
Can split their two weeks' entitlement into two separate one-week blocks (rather than having to take both weeks together)
Can take their two weeks at any time within the first year after their child's birth (rather than within only the first eight weeks after birth)
Can give employers 28 days' notice of the intent to take each week of leave (rather than 15 weeks' notice)
Employees must still give 15 weeks’ notice of their upcoming entitlement before the expected date of birth
Actions to take:
Ensure that Partner (Paternity) Leave policies are updated to reflect the new employee rights, or implement a policy if not already in place
Ensure managers are familiarised with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
Sexual Harassment Legislation
In October 2024, legislation came into force that requires employers to actively take reasonable steps to preventing sexual harassment against employees.
A Sexual Harassment Policy Template that includes a Risk Assessment and Monitoring Log Template is available to purchase from our online shop.
Actions to take:
Implement a sexual harassment policy within the organisation
Complete Risk Assessments and Monitoring Logs
Arrange training for employees and managers to improve awareness of sexual harassment and employer liabilities
Flexible Working Legislation
In April 2024, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 became law. This legislation:
Gives employees the right to make a formal flexible working request from day one of employment
Gives employees the right to make two flexible working requests every twelve months
Removes the requirement for employees to justify the impact of the proposed change on their working arrangements
Stipulates that employers must process and respond to flexible working requests within two months unless an extension to do so is agree with the employee
Stipulates that employers must consult with the employee before refusing a request
A Flexible Working Policy Template, along with a Request Form Template and Guidance for Managers are available to purchase from our online shop.
Actions to take:
Ensure organisational policies and procedures reflect the change in legislation, or implement a policy if not already in place
Ensure flexible working request forms are available to employees
Ensure managers familiarise themselves with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
Tips and Gratuities
As a result of The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 coming into effect on 1 October 2024, it is now mandatory for all tips, gratuities and service charges that employers have 'control or significant influence' over to be passed on to workers in full without deductions.
Employers must have a written policy on how it fairly distributes tips and must keep records for up to 3 years from when the tips were paid that include:
the amount of money received
the amount paid to an employee
the amount in tips the organisation arranged for allocation to employees
Actions to take:
Ensure organisational policies and procedures reflect the change in legislation, or implement a Tips and Gratuities Policy if not already in place
Implement a way to keep records of tips and gratuities
Ensure managers familiarise themselves with the change in legislation and employee entitlements
If you have any questions about the changes in employment legislation or how to implement the changes within your organisation, simply get in touch via clientservices@robinsongracehr.com!
Check out other Blogs in our series:
The content of our blogs is intended for general information and not to replace legal or other professional advice.
2025 Employment Law Changes: Are You Up To Date
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