Sexual harassment and protection from harassment: Changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025
Understand and take action to respond to the impact of the changes to sexual harassment and harassment protection measures
Recommendations for ensuring a financial safety net for workers during illness
The vulnerability of many workers forced to rely on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) during COVID-19, or not being able to access it at all, exposed the fault lines in the UK system. This is not a new issue though, with the 2017 Taylor Review highlighting the need for regulatory changes to support people with long-term health conditions to remain in quality work.
Despite reform of SSP being a key focus of several UK government consultations, there are no plans to take forward any substantive proposals to improve the system.
This paper examines the SSP reforms that the CIPD believes are needed and makes recommendations to outline how public policy and employer practice should work together to support people’s health and employment outcomes.
Download the full policy paper and recommendations overview to find out more
To adequately support people’s health and employment outcomes, the CIPD’s recommendations for the UK Government and for employers are as follows: 
Understand and take action to respond to the impact of the changes to sexual harassment and harassment protection measures
Keep up to date with what is changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and the plan to Make Work Pay
Legality of sanctioning workers who strike
Explore the resources you need to comply with changes to right of access, balloting and protections for trade union reps under the Employment Rights Act 2025
Benchmarking data and trends with expert insight and signposts to CIPD resources and tools
Trend analysis and benchmarking data on recruitment, retention and talent management to inform HR and employers on practice considerations and decision-making
Dedicated analysis of job quality and its impact on organisations and working lives in Scotland
Read our latest Labour Market Outlook report for analysis on employers’ recruitment, redundancy and pay intentions