Last Updated on August 29, 2025
In a new survey, 42% of health and social care businesses were unsure of the details of the Employment Rights Bill, or unaware of it at all. With the Employment Rights Bill expected to receive royal assent shortly after Parliament’s summer recess, Peninsula, the UK’s largest HR and employment law consultancy, surveyed over 500 businesses in the UK, over 100 of which were within the health and social care industry, to understand how they are preparing for the implementation of the Bill.
The research found that the outlook within the sector is not optimistic, with only one in ten (11%) saying they think the Bill will have a positive impact on their business and only slightly more (12%) thinking it will be positive for the industry as a whole.
However, according to Peninsula, this negative feeling has caused businesses to spring into action, with preparations underway for many. Almost half of health and social care businesses cited that they are ‘somewhat prepared’ (48%) for the implementation of the Bill. This puts the industry slightly ahead of the UK as a whole, where only 43% said they are somewhat prepared. Similarly, 16% of health and social care businesses said they are ‘very prepared’, compared to just 12% of the survey respondents overall.
When asked which area will require the most adjustment for their business to comply with the Employment Rights Bill, almost two fifths of health and social care businesses identified HR policies and procedures (39%) as the number one area where change is needed, followed by employment contracts (20%) and payroll and benefits administration (7%).
Whilst many of the changes will pose increased risk to businesses, health and social care businesses identified the increased costs of statutory rights, such as parental leave and statutory sick pay, as the biggest risk to their business. Over half (56%) of businesses cited that this would be a ‘critical’ or ‘major’ risk. This was closely followed by flexible working as the default (42%) and day one right to unfair dismissal (36%).
Commenting on the survey findings, Kate Palmer, Employment Services Director at Peninsula, said, 'The Employment Rights Bill is undoubtedly a concern for UK businesses across all sectors. Facing increased costs on several fronts, the bottom line for many businesses could be less growth, jobs and competitiveness. There is a risk that all these additional costs may be too much to bear for certain employers, particularly SMEs.
'The health and social care sector in particular have already faced significant blows this year. The scrapping of social care visas last month, meaning employers are no longer able to sponsor foreign workers to come to the UK to work as care workers, will be putting increased pressure on employers in the sector to source and retain talent. Having to navigate increased legislation around employment rights will no doubt only put additional strain on HR professionals in the sector, who are already being spread thin.
'On a more positive note, it is great to see that preparations are underway ahead of the reforms being implemented over the next couple of years. As the sector identified increased costs of statutory rights as the biggest risk to businesses, preparation over next eight months will be key. It is expected that the removal of the lower earnings limit and waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay will be implemented in April next year, so employers should prepare by ensuring that their absence management procedures are robust enough to manage this.'
In other news, 40 of the UK’s leading health funders and charities, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Age UK, Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, Alzheimer's Society and the Medical Research Council, have released a joint statement of intent calling for an end to age inequality in health research.