New day-one parental leave rights ‘good news for families across North Devon’

Millions of workers will gain the right to parental leave from their first day in a job under changes announced by the government, due to come into force from April.

The reforms, confirmed on Sunday, January 11, remove the existing qualifying period for parental leave and are expected to benefit more than 18 million people across the UK. Ministers say the changes will give families greater security and help raise living standards, particularly for those in insecure work.

Under the new rules, parents will no longer have to wait months to become eligible for unpaid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. The government says this will prevent workers from having to choose between taking time off to care for a newborn and returning to work to avoid losing their job.

An additional 32,000 fathers a year are expected to become eligible for paternity leave immediately, bringing their rights into line with maternity leave. Bereaved partners will also gain new entitlements, including up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if their partner dies before the child’s first birthday.

Reacting to the announcement, North Devon’s Liberal Democrat MP Ian Roome said the move would be “good news for many families across North Devon”.

“We Liberal Democrats have continuously called for strengthened parental pay and leave, including making it a day one right,” he said.

Mr Roome said he was proud that shared parental leave had originally been introduced under a Liberal Democrat-backed government, but warned take-up remained low due to inadequate statutory pay.

“The UK still lags behind comparable countries on shared parental leave, and too many parents are left trying to manage eye-watering childcare costs,” he said.

He added that around a quarter of fathers were not eligible for paternity pay because they were self-employed or had not been with their employer long enough, calling for further reforms to improve access.

The government says the changes form part of its wider Employment Rights Act, which it argues will create more secure jobs and ensure economic growth is “felt by working people in every part of the UK”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the reforms would ensure every new parent could “properly take time off when they have a child”.

“For too long, working people were left without the basic rights and security they deserve,” he said. “That ends now.”

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said no one should have to worry about losing pay or their job when their baby arrives, describing the reforms as a way of giving families “the security they deserve”.

The changes come as part of an ongoing government review of parental leave and pay, examining maternity, paternity and shared parental leave to see how the system can work better for both parents and employers.

Mr Roome said the review must go further, particularly for unpaid carers.

“If ministers are serious about tackling inequality in caring responsibilities, they also need to look at the millions of unpaid carers supporting disabled or elderly relatives, of whom I have heard from many in North Devon,” he said.

He added that any new rights for workers must be balanced with reforms to support small businesses, including changes to business rates and the apprenticeship levy.

Statutory instruments implementing the parental leave changes are due to be laid in Parliament today< Monday, January 12), with the new rights expected to take effect from April.