Ciara Fulton and Orla Bingham

Proposals for the introduction of miscarriage leave and ‘safe leave’ for victims of domestic abuse have recently been announced in Great Britain. These rights have been pending in Northern Ireland for some time but have yet to be introduced here. We consider the latest developments and outline other family friendly enhancements on the horizon.

There has been a raft of increased family friendly rights in the past year in GB, including a change to the Employment Rights Bill announced this week which will allow for paid leave for employees suffering a miscarriage. Separately, a private members bill has recently sought to introduce paid leave for victims of domestic abuse. We wrote in detail about this here.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland has had legislation in place to introduce these types of leave for a number of years, the progress of which have been hampered and delayed by NI Assembly absences. Implementation of these rights are forthcoming and expected within the coming year, and we consider what other developments are expected in relation to family friendly rights in Northern Ireland.

What’s the position with these types of leave in Northern Ireland?

Miscarriage leave

As is the case in GB at present prior to the amendments taking effect, there is currently no specific legal right to paid leave for women or their partners suffering a miscarriage before the 24th week of pregnancy in Northern Ireland. 

The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 was enacted in March 2022, which, along with supplemental regulations, allow working parents two weeks’ parental bereavement leave upon the death of a child aged under 18, or a stillbirth, but only from 24 weeks of pregnancy. This applies irrespective of their length of service, although only employees with 26 weeks’ service are entitled to statutory parental bereavement leave pay during this period. We previously wrote about this here.

Following a public consultation and agreement on subsequent regulations, the Department for the Economy announced that the current parental bereavement rights in NI will be extended to include working parents who suffer the loss of a child through miscarriage (before 24 weeks), making Northern Ireland the first jurisdiction in Europe to offer such support to employees. 

It is also proposed that working parents will become entitled to all rights (including statutory parental bereavement leave pay) from day one of their employment. We are currently awaiting regulations to effect these changes, which must be in place by April 2026 at the latest.

Whilst many employers in Northern Ireland already offer miscarriage leave as part of their internal policies, this development will legally remove what has long been considered an unfair exclusion of parents suffering bereavement following miscarriage, and who would otherwise be required to take sickness absence or unpaid leave to get the support they need.

Domestic Abuse ‘safe leave’

In response to escalating domestic abuse statistics, the Northern Ireland Assembly passed the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act (NI) 2022 that entitles victims of domestic abuse to 10 days’ paid safe leave each year (funded by the employer) for the purpose of dealing with issues related to domestic abuse. In passing the Bill, Northern Ireland was the first jurisdiction within the United Kingdom and Ireland to seek to provide a legal entitlement to paid leave for those affected by domestic violence.

A public consultation about practical measures needed to implement this new leave concluded in September 2024, and we await further regulations which are likely to be published within the coming year. See further here.

The Labour Relations Agency and the Department of Health / Department of Justice have also produced Guidance for Employers on how to support those experience domestic violence and abuse to prepare for this new right, and Northern Ireland remains a step ahead of the rest of the UK in relation to this provision.

What else is happening in Northern Ireland support working families?

The Department for the Economy proposed sweeping changes to employment law in Northern Ireland in July 2024, through its ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill public consultation. A major theme of these proposals aimed at improving ‘work life balance’ by providing greater support and flexibility for employees with family and caring responsibilities. We wrote about this in detail here. 

Flexible working and carer’s leave

Proposed changes include allowing employees to request flexible working from the first day of employment, rather than after 26 weeks, and permitting two requests within a 12-month period. This aligns with similar rights introduced in Great Britain in 2024, which many employers have already adopted for their Northern Ireland employees, and which recognise the increased demand for flexible and agile working patterns post COVID.

Additionally, there is a proposal for eligible employees to take up to one week of carer’s leave per year to care for a family member or dependant with significant care needs, to enable carers to remain in work whilst also meeting caring responsibilities.

It is not clear yet whether this leave will be paid in Northern Ireland, which is not currently the case in GB, and which would therefore ultimately need to be fully funded by the NI Executive. With a 2024 report from Carers NI suggesting 1 in 3 carers have had to give up employment because of caring responsibilities, it remains to be seen whether Northern Ireland will take a more significant step towards safeguarding these workers.

Enhanced protections and new leave rights

The ‘Good Jobs’ consultation also proposes extending enhanced redundancy protection to pregnant employees from the point of informing their employer of their pregnancy, and employees returning from maternity/adoption leave (and at least 6 weeks shared parental leave), with protection lasting for 18 months from the date of birth/adoption. 

This aligns with the position a present in GB and would significantly increase the number of employees with ‘priority’ status for redeployment in a redundancy scenario. This would benefit male as well as female employees, as employees taking 6 weeks’ shared parental leave would be put on an equal footing to those taking the same or longer periods of maternity leave. 

Additionally, new rights are proposed for neonatal leave, allowing eligible working parents of babies in neonatal care to receive up to 12 weeks of leave and/or pay, and for paternity leave, enabling fathers/partners to take leave in two blocks within the first year after birth/adoption. Both of these rights would apply from the first day of employment.

Whilst the overall amount of paternity leave is not increasing, employees would still have greater flexibility and choice about when and how to take this leave to suit their family needs.

Despite delays in their implementation, some of these key developments have positioned Northern Ireland as a leader in attempting to create inclusive and supportive workplaces and show a strong commitment to supporting working families. It remains to be seen how quickly these rights will come into force, but employers will need to adapt to these new requirements, fostering a supportive work environment, while employees will benefit from increased security and flexibility to balance their professional and personal lives. 

• Ciara Fulton is partner and head of the Belfast office of Lewis Silkin, where Orla Bingham is a managing knowledge lawyer.