We have put together a quick round up of Employment Law Changes 2024.
Holiday Pay
The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 contain important changes on how holiday pay is calculated for holiday years starting on or after 1 April 2024.
The changes are summarised below:
- Employers will be able to calculate holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers using an accrual method based on 12.07% of hours worked in the pay period.
- Rolled-up holiday pay for irregular hours workers and part-year workers will be permitted;
- A reference period of 52 weeks will be permitted to calculate holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers who are on long-term sick leave or family leave; and
- Legislation introduced during the COVID pandemic allowing the rollover of holidays for two holiday years will be revoked.
For further information please join our upcoming webinar on this topic.
Illegal working
On 22 January 2024, the fines for illegal working increased to £45,000 per worker for first breaches and £60,000 per worker for repeat breaches.
There is also the new code of practice on ‘Preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers’, which sets out how employers can establish a statutory excuse for right to work checks and how civil penalties will be administered and calculated.
Paternity Leave
The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 are proposed to come into force in March 2024. The Regulations will make the following changes:
- Allow fathers and partners to take their leave as two one-week, non-consecutive blocks (rather than in only one block);
- Allow fathers and partners to take their leave at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child (rather than only within the first eight weeks after birth or adoption);
- Shorten, in most cases, the notice period required for each period of leave to 28 days, meaning leave can be taken at shorter notice to accommodate the changing needs of the family;
- A father or partner who has given an initial notice may vary any dates given if they give 28 days’ notice of the variation, enabling them to change planned dates at a later stage to best suit the needs of their families.
The Regulations will apply to babies whose expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024, and to children whose expected date of placement for adoption or expected date of entry into Great Britain for adoption, is on or after 6 April 2024.
If you require assistance updating your current paternity leave policies please do not hesitate to contact us.
National Minimum Wage
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates that will apply from 1 April 2024 are as follows:
- 21 and over: £11.44 (9.8% increase);
- 18-20 year old rate: £8.60 (14.8% increase);
- Apprentices and those agreed 16-17 year old rate: £6.40 (21.2% increase);
- Apprentice rate: £6.40 (21.2% increase); and
- Accommodation offset: £9.99 (9.8% increase).
Rates for statutory leave and pay
The proposed new weekly rates from April 2024 are as follows:
- Maternity/adoption/paternity/shared parental leave pay – £184.03; and
- Sick pay – £116.75.
Flexible Working
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 will come into force on the 6 April 2024. Workers will benefit from the new measures, including:
- New requirements for employers to consult with the employee before rejecting their flexible working request;
- Permission to make two statutory requests in any 12-month period (rather than the current one request);
- Reduced waiting times for decisions to be made from three months to two months; and
- The removal of existing requirements that the employee must explain what effect, if any, the change applied for would have on the employer and how that effect might be dealt with.
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 also removes the requirement that an employee must have 26 weeks’ service to be able to make a request for flexible working. The change makes the right to request flexible working a Day One right.
Morgan LaRoche can assist in updating your current flexible working policies to ensure that it complies with the new legislation. We are also running a webinar on this topic.
Carer’s Leave
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 will introduce a new entitlement to one week’s unpaid leave per year for employees who are providing or arranging care. The Regulations are due to come into force on 6 April 2024.
The right applies to employees (from day one of employment) who have a dependant with a long-term care need and those who want to be absent from work to provide or arrange care for that dependant.
The meaning of a “dependant” is:
- A spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the employee; and
- Live in the same household as the employee, otherwise than by reason of being the employee’s boarder, employee, lodger or tenant, or reasonably rely on the employee to provide or arrange care.
A dependant has a “long-term care need” for these purposes if any of the following apply:
- They have an illness or injury (whether physical or mental) that requires, or is likely to require, care for more than three months;
- They have a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010; and
- They require care for a reason connected with their old age.
If you require assistance in producing a Carers Leave Policy, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Redundancy – Pregnancy and Family Leave
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 is scheduled to take effect on the 6 April 2024. This will extend the protection from redundancy to pregnant employees and those returning from family leave.
The protection will cover pregnant employees from when they tell their employer they are pregnant until 18 months after birth.
This will ensure that employees returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave receive redundancy protection for at least six months after they return to work.
They will have special protection in a redundancy situation. They have the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, if one is available, before being made redundant.
TUPE
The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 are due to come into effect on 1 July 2024.
The Regulations will remove the requirement to consult with elected representatives for:
- Businesses with fewer than 50 people; or
- Employers of any size with transfers affecting less than 10 employees.
This will reduce the need for many SMEs to elect representatives in TUPE situations but may mean they have to undertake more individual consultation instead.
Predictable working pattern
Under the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023, all workers, including those on zero-hours contracts, will have the legal right to request a predictable working pattern. This is expected to come into effect in September 2024
If their existing working pattern lacks certainty in respect of the hours they work or the times they work, or if it is a fixed-term contract for less than 12 months, workers will be able to make a formal application to change their working pattern to make it more predictable.
Employers will have to notify the worker of their decision within one month of the request and refusal is permitted provided it is on one of the prescribed grounds, which mirror the grounds for refusing a flexible working request.
It is anticipated that 26 weeks’ service will be needed before a request can be made.
Acas will produce a new Code of Practice to provide further guidance on making and handling requests, to assist employers in managing this new right.
Sexual Harassment
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is likely to come into effect in October 2024. It will impose a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces and gives tribunals the power to uplift compensation by 25% where an employer has breached this duty.
Employers can prevent sexual harassment by carrying out the following:
- Develop an effective anti-harassment policy;
- Train staff on what sexual harassment in the workplace looks like and what to do if they experience it and how to handle complaints; and
- Act immediately when a harassment complaint is made.
Morgan LaRoche is running a training session on this new duty to assist employers in preparing for the implementation of the Act.
