Employment Rights Bill Report Stage: New Clause 10

Parliament rejected a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Employment Rights Bill on 11 March 2025 that would have made carer's leave a paid entitlement. The amendment, New Clause 10, was defeated by 323 votes to 95. The existing Carer's Leave Act 2023 already provides for unpaid leave, and the new clause sought to build on that by requiring employers to pay workers during that leave period. The practical effect of the vote is that working carers continue to have a right to take unpaid leave, but no right to pay during that absence. Liberal Democrat MP Alison Bennett argued during the debate that paid carer's leave would allow workers to juggle employment and caring responsibilities, citing Carers UK figures suggesting that carers being able to stay in work is worth £5.3 billion to the economy. The government declined to legislate for the entitlement at this stage, with ministers signalling that some reforms under the broader plan to make work pay would take longer to implement, and preferring a consultative approach before any change. The vote divided largely along party lines. Labour MPs provided almost all of the opposition to the clause, with 291 Labour members and 31 Labour and Co-operative members voting no. The Liberal Democrats voted unanimously in favour, joined by the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the Democratic Unionist Party, and smaller parties. One Labour MP voted with the ayes. The vote reflects a pattern in the bill's report stage where the government resisted amendments from opposition parties seeking to extend new employment rights beyond what ministers had already proposed.