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Are You Ready For Change?

Employment Legislation is changing in April 24

New Employment Legislation becomes effective from 6th April 2024.

Now is the time to review your employment contracts, policies or handbooks to make sure you as an employer stay the right side of the law.

Below is a brief lowdown on the changes that are coming and effect employees and workers in the UK.

For more information we recommend you seek professional advice from a trusted HR Consultancy, such as Pink Fluff HR Consultancy.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

This legislation will extend the protection for women and new parents against redundancy during, or after an individual takes the relevant period of family leave.

The new protection will apply and protect new parents, including those adopting and those taking shared parental shared leave from 6th April 2024.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023

From 6 April 2024, the Carer’s Leave Act will introduce a new and flexible entitlement of five days unpaid leave per year for employees who have a dependant with a long-term care need. As per other types of family related leave, the employee will be protected from dismissal or any detriment as a result of having taken time off.

Paternity Leave

In April 2024, the government is expected to make some minor changes to paternity leave. The changes may include:

Permitting fathers or partners to split their leave into 2 blocks of 1 week.

Fathers or partners will be able to take their leave and pay at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child instead of only within the first 8 weeks.

Adjusting the way fathers or partners give notice of leave and pay to their employer.

National Minimum Wage

The Government has announced that from 1 April 2024, the rates for National Minimum Wage(NMW) and National Living Wage(NLW) will rise.

Please see the Government’s website for further information: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

Also from 1 April 2024, the highest rate of the NMW, the NLW will be extended from workers aged 23 and over to those aged 21 and 22, who have previously been paid a lower rate.

Working Time Regulations

Various changes will be made to the law relating to on holiday pay and working time in 2024, including:

Clarification that various EU based working time rights will remain in force despite Brexit.

Defining what payments need to be included in holiday pay as “normal remuneration” for the first four weeks of holiday entitlement.

Removing the additional working time record keeping requirements set out in a recent European judgment.

Requirement on employers to remind staff to take their holiday at regular intervals and that if they do not take it, it shall be lost at the end of the holiday year, subject to any carry over rules.

From 1 April 2024 the Government has provided a method of holiday accrual for irregular-hours and part-year workers (as defined in the legislation), based on 12.07% of the hours worked in the previous pay period.

Employers will now be permitted to roll-up holiday pay for irregular-hours and part-year workers (for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024).

The Department for Business and Trade published guidance on holiday entitlement and holiday pay illustrating the new rules in practical terms.  The guidance can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/simplifying-holiday-entitlement-and-holiday-pay-calculations

Flexible Working

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 received Royal Assent in July 2023.  From 6 April 2024, the Act (and related secondary legislation) will:

Remove the requirement for an employee to have 26 weeks’ service to make a flexible working request, this will be a “day one” right.

Require an employer to consult with an employee if it is considering rejecting a request.

Permit employees to make two requests in a 12-month period instead of one.

Reduce the period in which an employer must respond to a request from three months to two months.

Remove the requirement for employees to specify how the employer might deal with the effects of the flexible working request.

ACAS has also issued a draft Code of Practice on how to deal with flexible working requests once the new legislation comes into force, which can be found here: https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-flexible-working-requests/2024

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

This legislation will allow parents of babies the right to leave and pay if the baby is in hospital for a continuous period. The Act will also introduce statutory neonatal leave and pay.

The introduction of this leave and pay is not expected until April 2025.

Please get in touch today if you need help to interpret and/or implement the changes into your business.

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