(5 min read)
This March 2025 edition takes a look at the new Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 coming into force on 6 April 2025 as well as the latest developments on the Employment Rights Bill. We have articles on the new legislation on Non-Disclosure Agreements in Ireland, the latest updates in UK business immigration, two recent cases on age discrimination and religion or belief discrimination and the latest amendments to Employment Regulations in Abu Dhabi. We also include our usual round-up of news, our UK and EU horizon scanners and information on forthcoming events.
Springing forward with employment reforms
As March is an important month for Ireland where we celebrate St Patrick's Day it seems apt to focus on Ireland this month and the new prohibition on the use of non-disclosure agreements in discrimination, harassment/sexual harassment or victimisation claims. In Ireland, the use of non-disclosure agreements has long been criticised in specific types of litigation against the State and through the '#MeToo movement'. The refusal by plaintiffs in recent high profile medical cases involving cervical cancer to sign confidentiality agreements and keep the details of their allegations and settlement silent, highlighted the issues with non-disclosure agreements in litigation.
Changes to Irish equality legislation now prohibit the use of non-disclosure agreements in specific types of cases except where onerous criteria are met. These changes are likely to impact the way in which employers approach litigation of discrimination, harassment/sexual harassment and victimisation cases. This is definitely an area to watch in Ireland. It will also be interesting to see if other jurisdictions follow suit and if non-disclosure agreements in these types of employment law cases become a thing of the past. We will be discussing all the recent changes to Irish employment law at our forthcoming Ireland Employment Training Day on 2 April 2025, see here for details.
Editorial - by Kate Field
What's next for the UK Employment Rights Bill? Amendments and move to the House of Lords
We provide an update on the latest amendments to the Employment Rights Bill and summarise the key developments to date. Find out more here.
Neonatal Care Leave and Pay in force from 6 April 2025 in Great Britain: Are you prepared?
We look at the new parental rights on neonatal care leave and pay and what employers can do to prepare. Find out what employers need to know here.
UK Immigration Update: Fee increases, ETAs and eVisa support
Our article sets out the latest updates in business immigration in the UK. Find out what it means here.
International Update: Ireland introduces law restricting the use of non-disclosure clauses in discrimination and harassment cases
The Irish Government has introduced a prohibition on the use of non-disclosure agreements in discrimination, harassment/ sexual harassment and victimisation claims except where specific criteria are met. We take a look at the legislation and the implications it has for employers in Ireland. Find out more here.
Upcoming Events:
Our annual Dublin Employment Law Training Day will take place on Wednesday, 2 April 2025 at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin. The Irish Employment Team will be discussing all the recent changes to Irish employment law as well as updates on immigration law, employee/contractor classification and protected disclosures plus insights on diversity, compliance and tech strategies. For more information and to register for the event, please visit our registration page here.
For our Employment and Immigration Training Calendar 2025 listing all our client training events, please visit our website page here.
What else you should know
- Find out about two recent cases on age discrimination and religion or belief discrimination and the latest amendments to Employment Regulations in Abu Dhabi:
Consultation on forthcoming Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
The Government has recently launched a consultation seeking views on how to implement mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers (those with 250 or more employees) in Great Britain. The responses to the consultation will help shape the draft legislation. The consultation closes on 10 June 2025.
The Government is proposing to mirror the gender pay gap reporting framework where appropriate in terms of geographical scope, pay gap measures (with two additional measures to give context to the employer's ethnicity and disability pay gap figures), reporting deadlines and enforcement policy. It also proposes to follow the voluntary guidance for ethnicity pay gap reporting for a consistent approach to classifications and proposes certain protections to preserve employee privacy on data collection.
In a House of Commons debate in January 2025 the Government confirmed that draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill would be introduced during the current parliamentary session.
Update on D&I From FCA and PRA
Following the FCA and PRA consultations on D&I in 2023, we had been expecting the FCA and PRA to publish policy statements on D&I sometime this year. The FCA has now published a statement on its website stating that in response to the feedback from the joint FCA and PRA consultation on diversity and inclusion, in light of the expected legislative developments and to avoid additional burdens on firms at this time, the FCA and PRA have no plans to take the work further.
We had also been waiting for publication of a policy statement on "Tackling Non-Financial Misconduct in the Financial Sector" at the beginning of 2025. The FCA's statement now states that it will set out next steps by the end of June this year. The review of the impact of removing the bonus cap on gender pay and inequality has also been pushed back to the financial year 2026/27.
Tribunal compensation limit increases from 6 April 2025
New Employment Tribunal compensation award limits will come into force on 6 April 2025. These include:
- A week's pay maximum increases to £719 (up from £700) used for calculating various awards including statutory redundancy payments and unfair dismissal basic awards.
- The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases to £118,223 (up from £115,115).
- The maximum basic award for unfair dismissal increases to £21,570 (up from £21,000).
