The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces significant day-one rights for employees around bereavement, paternity leave, and unpaid parental leave. These family-friendly rights will affect how screen industry businesses support employees through major life events, from loss of a loved one to welcoming a new child.
But before we get into the details, remember that these rights apply only to employees, i.e. people working under contracts of employment where you operate PAYE. They don’t apply to self-employed freelancers, workers (that specific legal status that sits between employee and self-employed), or people engaged through agencies or umbrella companies.
And as we’ve said elsewhere, do be careful about employment status. If people you call ‘freelancers’ are actually employees in legal terms (because of how you control their work, the level of integration into your business, etc.), these rules could apply to them.
This article covers three separate but related changes, with different timelines and implementation dates.
What’s changing?
The Act introduces a new day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave for all employees. This will give employees protected time off to grieve the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss.
Currently, there’s no statutory right to bereavement leave (except two weeks’ paid leave for parents who lose a child under 18, or stillborn from 24 weeks). Most employers do respond compassionately when employees face bereavement, but the absence of legislation means some employees may not receive appropriate time off.
Here’s what we know so far:
• Minimum of one week’s leave (this may be extended in secondary legislation)
• Which must be taken within at least 56 days of the bereavement (again may be extended)
• It will be available from day one of employment and will be unpaid (but employers can choose to offer paid leave)
• There’ll be protection from dismissal or redundancy for taking bereavement leave
What’s still being decided (the public consultation closed on 15 January 2026):
• Who will qualify as a ‘loved one’ (i.e. what relationships are covered)
• Which types of pregnancy loss are included
• Whether the leave period should be longer than one week
• Whether the 56 day window should be extended
• How the leave can be taken (i.e. all at once, or split up) and what notice or evidence requirements will apply
What does this mean for screen industry businesses?
Bereavement affects nearly 2 million working people each year, causing grief that impairs ability to work. In screen industries where projects run to tight deadlines and teams are small, we know that losing a key employee even temporarily can be challenging. However, supporting bereaved staff properly should reduce longer-term absence and help retain experienced people.
Many screen industry businesses will already have compassionate leave policies. When the statutory right comes in, you’ll need to ensure your policies meet at least the minimum requirements, and clarify how your contractual leave relates to the statutory entitlement.
Don’t forget that although the leave is unpaid, employers can choose to offer paid bereavement leave as an enhanced benefit – and many already do.
What’s changing?
Please note the difference between Paternity Leave and Paternity Pay. Paternity Leave will be a day-one right from 6 April 2026. Until now, employees must work for their employer for 26 weeks before they qualify for Paternity Leave. From April, new employees will be eligible immediately (subject to giving proper notice).
But the 26 week qualifying period for Statutory Paternity Pay remains unchanged. So, whilst newly eligible fathers and partners will get the right to take leave from day one, they won’t get statutory pay unless they’ve been with employed for 26 weeks.
For example if you hire someone who then has a baby three weeks later, they have the right to take up to two weeks’ paternity leave – but it will be unpaid (unless you choose offer enhanced/contractual paternity pay).
Additionally, the Act also removes the existing restriction on taking Paternity Leave after Shared Parental Leave. Previously, if someone took Shared Parental Leave, they lost their right to Paternity Leave. This caused problems when people didn’t understand the rules. Now there’ll be more flexibility.
There are some transition arrangements. To help newly eligible parents access leave from 6 April 2026, the Government is temporarily shortening the notice period to 28 days. Newly eligible parents can give notice from 18 February 2026. (The standard notice period for already eligible parents remains unchanged.)
This applies to parents of babies with an Expected Week of Childbirth on or after 5 April 2026, babies born on or after 6 April 2026, or children placed for adoption on or after 6 April 2026.
What does this mean for screen industry businesses?
Around 30,000 additional fathers and partners will become eligible for paternity leave each year across all sectors. In screen industries, where people frequently move between jobs and projects, this change is significant.
Imagine you hire a post-production assistant in March 2026 whose partner is expecting in late April. Under current rules, they wouldn’t qualify for paternity leave (only been with you 6 weeks). Under the new rules, they’re entitled to take up to two weeks’ leave – though it’s unpaid because they haven’t hit the 26-week threshold for statutory pay.
Businesses will need to manage short-notice absences for newly hired staff. Good planning and clear communication about leave entitlements during onboarding will help matters.
Many screen industry employers already offer enhanced paternity pay (i.e. paid leave beyond the statutory minimum). You’ll need to review your policies to clarify whether enhanced pay applies to day-one employees or only to those who’ve been with you longer.
What’s changing?
Unpaid Parental Leave becomes a day-one right from 6 April 2026. Currently, employees must work for their employer for one year before qualifying. From April, this qualifying period is removed.
Unpaid Parental Leave is the right to take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid leave per child (up to their 18th birthday) to look after a child’s welfare. It’s separate from maternity/paternity leave and is designed for things like settling children into childcare, spending more time with them during school holidays, or even dealing with family emergencies.
The leave can be taken as individual weeks (or days, with employer agreement), up to a maximum of four weeks per year per child. It’s unpaid and requires 21 days’ notice to be given by the employee. Eligible parents can give notice from 18 February 2026 to enable leave from 6 April 2026.
What does this mean for screen industry businesses?
Around 1.5 million parents will become newly eligible for unpaid parental leave each year. In screen industries, where people move jobs frequently, many employees currently lose access to this entitlement when they change employer and then have to rebuild a year’s service. But from April 2026, all employee parents will be able to request unpaid parental leave regardless of their length of service.
Because the leave is unpaid and requires 21 days’ notice, most employees will use it thoughtfully. But businesses should expect more requests for time off from new starters who have young children.
Employers can postpone parental leave requests for up to six months if the absence would cause undue disruption to the business (though there are rules about how and when you can do this). Clear policies on managing these requests will help.
Review and update policies now. Check your existing bereavement, paternity and parental leave policies. Make sure they’ll comply with the new statutory minimums, and clarify how any enhanced/contractual benefits relate to the statutory rights.
Update employment contracts and handbooks. Reference the new day-one rights for paternity and unpaid parental leave (from April 2026) and flag that bereavement leave is coming (2027).
Communicate the changes to staff. Make sure employees understand their new rights, particularly around the difference between paternity leave (day-one right) and paternity pay (still requiring 26 weeks’ service).
Train managers and HR. Ensure those handling leave requests understand the new rules and how to manage them sensitively, especially around bereavement.
Plan for increased absences. Particularly with day-one paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, expect more requests from newer employees. Build this into resource planning.
For Bereavement Leave specifically:
Think about enhanced provision. The statutory entitlement is unpaid. Many businesses choose to offer paid bereavement leave as a benefit that supports staff wellbeing and retention. Charities estimate that bereavement costs the UK economy £23 billion per year in lost productivity. Supporting bereaved employees properly can reduce long-term absences.
For Paternity Leave specifically:
Clarify your enhanced paternity pay policy. If you offer paid paternity leave beyond statutory minimum, decide whether this applies to day-one employees or only those with longer service. Be clear about this in contracts and in staff communications.
Update onboarding processes. Make sure new starters who are expecting a child understand their leave entitlements and the notice requirements.
For unpaid Parental Leave specifically:
Develop a clear process for managing requests. Decide how you’ll handle unpaid parental leave requests, including when you might need to postpone them due to business needs and document this in your policies.
Ask about caring responsibilities during recruitment. Not in a discriminatory way or course, but an understanding of whether new hires have young children can help with workforce planning.
The Government has also launched a broader review of the parental leave system (which was announced back in July 2025). This review will explore how the system can better support working families and reflect modern work and childcare realities, while balancing business needs and HM Treasury costs. This suggests further changes to maternity, paternity, shared parental leave and related entitlements may be coming in future so screen industry businesses should stay informed about this review and any proposals that may emerge.