Employment Rights Bill Report Stage: New Clause 10

What happened: On 11 March 2025, the House of Commons voted on New Clause 10 during the Report Stage of the Employment Rights Bill. The clause, tabled by opposition MPs, would have made carer's leave a paid statutory right. The amendment was defeated by 323 votes to 95, meaning it will not be added to the Bill.

Why it matters: Currently, the Carer's Leave Act 2023 gives eligible employees the right to take up to five days of unpaid leave per year to provide or arrange care for a dependant. New Clause 10 sought to go further by making that leave paid. Proponents argued that paid carer's leave would unlock an estimated £5.3 billion in economic value by enabling working carers to remain in employment, and that major employers such as Centrica and HSBC already offer such arrangements voluntarily. By defeating the clause, the House kept carer's leave unpaid as a statutory floor, leaving any improvement to voluntary employer practice or future legislation.

The politics: The vote divided sharply along party lines. Nearly all Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted against the clause, keeping to the government's position. The Liberal Democrats supplied the largest bloc of votes in favour, with 65 of their MPs supporting the amendment, joined by the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the DUP, the SDLP, and most independents. Only one Labour MP voted for the clause. The Conservatives, despite their broader opposition to the Bill, did not vote for this particular amendment. The vote sits within a wider and politically charged Report Stage debate over the Employment Rights Bill, which has become a focal point for conflict between the government's pro-worker agenda and opposition concerns about the cost to businesses.