ABSTRACT
This article examines the contribution of the Employment Rights Act 2025 to the framework of family-friendly employment rights in the UK. Introduced as part of Labour’s commitment to deliver ‘the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation’, the Act aims to strengthen support for working families and improve work–life balance. Whilst the article acknowledges that the Act reinforces existing entitlements and represents a welcome development, it argues that its transformative potential remains limited. Drawing on a care-centric approach to employment law, it contends that the reforms continue to view care primarily through the lens of labour market participation rather than recognising its intrinsic social value. As a result, they do little to challenge entrenched gender inequalities or to respond to the diversity of contemporary family relationships. The article analyses both the reforms introduced by the Act and the gaps that remain, before critically assessing the Parental Leave and Pay Review and the Review on Employment Rights for Unpaid Carers as opportunities for more meaningful change.
Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella, Working Parents and the Employment Rights Act 2025: Surely a Question of Care? Industrial Law Journal. Published: 26 August 2026.
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