The HR Team supports Common Tenure arrangements for clergy, centrally employed diocesan staff and employment matters such as wellbeing.
They are also available to advise incumbents and PCCs on employment and volunteer issues including safer recruitment including DBS processes, people management, and on issues such as GDPR and Health and Safety
Video transcript
In this 2025 updates section, as part of the Church HR Toolkit, we’ll cover the significant changes in Employment law emerging from the Employment Rights Bill 2024–25. It is important for small businesses and charities to get ahead of the changes as they are likely to have significant implications on time and budget, particularly when recruiting new people.
Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill marks the most significant reform of UK employment law in decades, aiming to enhance job security, fairness, and workplace rights. It introduces day-one entitlements to unfair dismissal protection, parental, paternity, and bereavement leave, while also expanding flexible working and strengthening protections against harassment and for trade unions.
Key proposals—changes are expected to take effect from Autumn 2026— and include scrapping the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal, removing the Lower Earnings Limit and ‘waiting days’ for statutory sick pay, banning fire-and-rehire (except in exceptional cases), requiring guaranteed hours for zero-hours workers, and introducing a standard nine-month probation period.
Preparing for changes that may affect you
To prepare for the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, churches employing just a few staff can take simple, proactive steps for changes that are expected to take effect from Autumn 2026. Begin by reviewing employment contracts to ensure they include a clear nine-month probation period and reflect updated terms for leave, working hours, and dismissal. With day-one rights for unfair dismissal and various types of leave on the horizon, it’s important to start documenting performance and conduct from the first day of employment.
Policies on sick pay should be updated to remove waiting days and earnings thresholds, and leave entitlements should reflect immediate eligibility for paternity, parental, and bereavement leave. If the church uses casual or zero-hours staff, it will be necessary to offer guaranteed hours based on actual work patterns and provide reasonable notice for shifts.
Trustees and anyone involved in managing staff should be briefed on fair dismissal procedures and how to handle flexible working requests, which will become a default right. Finally, staying informed through diocesan HR support and ACAS or GOV.UK will help ensure your church is ready to adapt when the changes come into force in 2026.
Neo-natal Leave
As a parent of a newborn in hospital, needing specialist care, the first consideration of the parent is to be by their side—not worrying about work or pay. That’s the heart of the new Neonatal Care Leave law.
In April 2025, there is a right of up to 12 weeks of paid leave for parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days of life and stays in care for at least 7 days.
This leave is a day-one right—meaning it’s available from the very first day of employment and it’s in addition to maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental leave.
Other employment law changes
Additionally to the new bill, there have also been changes in National Minimum Wage, increased rates on the statutory family-friendly leave pay and from April 2025, the employer NI threshold dropped to £5,000 and employer contribution rate rose to 15% from 13.5%.
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