Received from: Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
Congress welcomes progress from the Labour government on family friendly rights at work. The Employment Rights Act delivers day one rights to paternity and parental leave, extends protection from dismissal for pregnant and new mothers, strengthens flexible working rights and introduces a right to bereavement leave.
Congress also welcomes the wider review of the current statutory framework of parental leave which is failing working families and holding back the economy.
We are pleased to see consideration for kinship carers as part of the review. Over 140,000 children are growing up in kinship care, yet relatives and friends who step in to care for children when parents cannot, have no statutory right to leave or pay.
Congress is clear that the government must deliver a framework that reflects the realities of family life and today’s labour market, supports meaningful choices around combining paid work with care, reduces pregnancy and maternity discrimination and advances gender equality to close the gender pay gap.
The experiences of working families must be at the heart of government decision making.
With the outcome of the review due in January 2027, Congress calls on the TUC to lobby the government to deliver an ambitious set of reforms, including:
i. standalone rights to individual periods of well-paid parental leave
ii. the introduction of paid leave for kinship carers
iii. extending access to parental pay and leave to all those who currently miss out, including those on very low pay, those in insecure work and self-employed workers.
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
AMENDMENT
After point ‘ii. the introduction of paid leave for kinship carers’ before point ‘iii. extending access…’ (which will become point iv.)
Please insert: iii. full recognition of kinship carers with Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), ensuring they receive equal entitlements in line with birth and adoptive parents, including financial support, parental leave and access to specialist services.
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy