3 top tips for employers on care leave, communication, and contracts

By Justine Watkinson

Are you running a business which employs people?

Whether employing 1 or 100 people, or over 10,000 it remains important to stay on top of new laws approaching and any updates to existing laws.

Employment law changes happen frequently – with new laws coming into force on a regular basis.

Below are three legal tips to pay attention to: Changes to neonatal care rights, managing communications and channels, and employee contracts.

1. Neonatal Care Leave

What is the new legal change? From day one employees will have an immediate right to neonatal leave, with pay due to start 6th April 2025 (subject to Parliamentary approval).

This leave will apply to any parents who have babies up to 28 days old admitted into neonatal care, resulting in a continuous stay in hospital of up to 7 or more full days. This will allow eligible parents to take up to 12 weeks’ leave (on top of any other leave entitlement such as maternity or paternity leave). Other factors include:

The right to statutory pay requires 26 weeks’ service and at least the Lower Earnings Limit to be in force at the time leave is taken.
The employee must give written notice of when they would like to take leave.
As statutory maternity leave can be stopped and started, neonatal care leave can be taken at the end of maternity leave, even if the baby required neonatal care before this time.

2. Communications

It is not unusual to see bold headlines featuring a legal case involving online communications. This is partly due to the blurred lines between work and home life on social media and apps. Given that WhatsApp has an estimated 2 million monthly active users it is no surprise that messaging inside and outside of working hours is common. While security has end to end encryption, many employers are not aware of where the legal lines are drawn – what may be sent as a quick opinion or comment can be used as evidence in court. Situations increasing business risk include:

Using improper or offensive language.
What may be ‘banter’ or gossip to some may not be to others, opening the door to an employer being liable for a bullying and harassment claim.
Excluding certain people from groups, planning or activities outside work.
Sharing inappropriate messages including images and videos, which can lead to claims of unlawful discrimination.
Messaging employees outside working hours, as promoting an ‘always on’ culture can potentially increase claims of work-related stress.

What can employers do to improve communications?

Begin with an audit of communication channels. Decide which are official or unofficial and train employees on safe and unsafe messaging including confidentiality and data protection.

Strengthen policies, contracts, processes and training. Best practice is to communicate to all employees the clear distinction between official work channels and unofficial ones (which can reduce work focus and productivity). This activity can be part of the induction process, timely updates and also reinforced with reminders. If the business encourages employees to use WhatsApp for business purposes using their own device, create a bring-your-own-device policy (BYODP).

3. Contracts

Contracts are at the heart of running a business. They minimise risk while setting clear boundaries. Bespoke employee contracts, safe use of social media and apps, and data management also provide clarity and manage expectations.

There is no charge to get in touch with HM3 Legal.

If you would like an initial no-obligation conversation about contracts, policies, in-person or virtual training, please contact Justine.

Or for any general legal queries email: Hello@HM3Legal.co.uk

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