UK Consultations on Zero-Hours Contracts and Rights for Carers and Parents

The UK government has launched two new consultations on proposed employment laws, giving interested parties the opportunity to register their opinion on the legislation. The consultations allow the government to better understand how the laws will impact employers and individuals, which gives the final version of the legislation a better chance of meeting its intended aims.

Zero-hours contracts consultation

One consultation focuses on zero-hours contracts measures that were put forward in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). The act gives qualifying workers the right to:

• Guaranteed hours
• Reasonable notice of shifts
• Payment when shifts are cancelled, cut short, or moved at short notice

The objective of these rules is to reduce job-related insecurity for zero-hours and low-hours workers while still giving businesses the flexibility to adapt to changing demands and conditions.

The consultation closes at 11:59 PM on August 25, 2026, and further details are available here.

Consultation on carer’s leave and pay entitlements for parents of ill children

Carer’s leave

The UK’s Carer’s Leave Act 2023 gives employees who are also caregivers the right to take up to five days of unpaid leave each year to care for, or arrange care for, a dependent who needs long-term care.

Employees also have the right to a reasonable amount of unpaid leave to attend to emergencies involving a dependent, as well as the ability to request flexible working arrangements from their employer.

The government’s consultation on this framework seeks to determine whether it’s effective and whether employees who are carers need more support to remain in or return to work.

The consultation suggests possible approaches, which are listed below.

Changes to eligibility for carer’s leave: Unpaid carer’s leave currently allows workers to care for or arrange care for a spouse, partner, child, parent, someone in the same household, or someone who (reasonably) relies on the employee for care, assuming a need for long-term care. The consultation seeks input on whether the purposes for leave should be expanded and whether there are other individuals who would benefit from the care of the employee.

An extension of carer’s leave: This option would extend the current unpaid entitlement to either six or 10 days of unpaid leave.

The right to return: This component would introduce a statutory right for the employee to return to work after a longer period of unpaid leave, similar to the job protection provided to women after they’ve taken maternity leave. The consultation seeks input on the length of the leave period, appropriate requirements for evidence, and whether it should apply to all unpaid caregivers or only in certain circumstances.

Paid carer’s leave: The consultation asks whether paid leave should be provided for caregivers, what the amount of leave should be, and what a suitable rate of pay would be, with possible pay rates of:

• 90% of normal pay
• 50% of normal pay
• An amount equal to statutory parental pay
• The rate of statutory sick pay

Pay entitlements for parents of sick children

The consultation asks whether parents of children who are seriously ill should have a new statutory entitlement to leave and receive pay. Possible durations for the leave run from one week to more than 12 weeks, and potential pay rates are similar to those that have been proposed for paid carer’s leave.

This consultation closes at 11:59 PM September 1, 2026, and further details can be found here.

Sources: Littler, Littler