Employment Law Update 2024
A number of changes are going to be made to Employment legislation in 2024. We have summarised everything you need to be aware of.
The following changes are going to be made to Employment legislation in 2024.
1. National Minimum Wage
2. Equality Act 2010
3. Flexible Working
4. Holiday Pay
5. Paternity Leave
6. Workplace Sexual Harassment
7. Carers Leave
8. TUPE
National Minimum Wage
The Government has announced the rates of the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) which will come into force from April 2024.
The rates which will apply from 1 April 2024 are as follows:
The National Living Wage now has to be paid to people aged 21 and over and not 23 and over like it was previously.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 January 2024, amending the Equality Act 2010 to reproduce various aspects of EU discrimination protection established in European Court of Justice case law.
Direct discrimination related to pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding:
Section 13(7), which excludes direct sex discrimination claims relating to breastfeeding is repealed.
Section 18 is amended so that protection in pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims is extended to cover unfavourable treatment after the protected period where the treatment is because of the pregnancy or pregnancy-related illness that occurred during the protected period.
The protected period is extended where the right to maternity leave arises from an occupational scheme, entitling claimants to bring a pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim without the need for a comparator.
Indirect Discrimination:
A new section 19A enables a person without a protected characteristic to bring an indirect discrimination claim if they suffer a disadvantage alongside persons with a protected characteristic.
Requires only that the claimant share the disadvantage suffered by the group with the relevant protected characteristic. There is no reference to, or requirement for, there to be any association between the claimant and someone with the relevant protected characteristic.
Recruitment & Equal Pay Claims:
A new section 60A provides that a general discriminatory statement made in connection with a relevant recruitment decision may constitute direct discrimination, even if there is no active recruitment exercise and no identifiable victim.
There will be single source test in equal pay claims – comparators and associated employers.
Definition of disability:
o A new paragraph (5A) is inserted into Schedule 1 providing that, in relation to the definition of disability, a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities includes their ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis.
o This will allow claimants to bring a claim based on the broader definition of disability developed in retained EU case law.
Flexible Working
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulation 2023 - comes in to force 6 April 2024:
Day 1 right to make a flexible working request (previously 26 weeks service required).
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023 – no date currently for it to come into force – possibly 6 April 2024.
Changes under The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023:
Allows employees to make two statutory flexible working requests every 12 months (the current limit is one).
Reduces the time limit for employers to deal with statutory flexible working requests from three to two months (although this can be extended by agreement with the employee).
Requires employers to consult an employee before refusing a request.
Removes the need for employees to explain the effect of the proposed change or how that could be dealt with when making a request.
Holiday Pay
Changes to Working Time Regulations:
Irregular Hours Worker:
A worker is an irregular hours worker, in relation to a leave year, if the number of paid hours that they will work in each pay period during the term of their contract in that year is, under the terms of their contract, wholly or mostly variable. Includes zero hours.
Part-year worker:
A worker is a part-year worker, in relation to a leave year, if, under the terms of their contract, they are required to work only part of that year and there are periods within that year (during the term of the contract) of at least a week which they are not required to work and for which they are not paid.
This includes part-year workers who may have fixed hours, for example, teaching assistants who only work during term time, and who are paid only when working.
Irregular Hours Worker & Part-Year Workers:
Effective from 1 April 2024:
For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, there is a new accrual method for irregular hour workers and part-year workers in the first year of employment and beyond.
Holiday entitlement for these workers will be calculated in hours not weeks - 12.07% of actual hours worked in a pay period.
12.07% is on the basis that they have the statutory minimum leave of 5.6 weeks.
Rolled Up Holiday Pay:
The regulations allow employers to use rolled-up holiday pay as an additional method for calculating holiday pay for irregular hour and part-year workers only, for leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
The calculation of holiday pay by employers is 12.07% of a worker’s total pay in that pay period.
Variation of contract may be needed.
Clearly marked as a separate item on each payslip.
Can still pay when the leave is taken – paid at average of 52 weeks’.
From 1 January 2024, the components which must be included when calculating ‘normal’ rate of pay are defined in regulations.
The following payments must be included in the 4 weeks of normal (regulation 13 leave) holiday pay:
Payments, including commission payments, intrinsically linked to the performance of tasks which a worker is contractually obliged to carry out.
Payments relating to professional or personal status relating to length of service, seniority or professional qualifications.
Other payments, such as overtime payments, which have been regularly paid to a worker in the 52 weeks preceding the calculation date.
Same principle as EU case law namely - workers with regular hours and fixed pay must receive the same holiday pay as the pay they would receive if they were at work and working.
Carryover of Leave:
From 1st January 2024 workers can normally carry over a maximum of 8 days into the next leave year with agreement of the employer.
Can be more if entitlement exceeds statutory minimum.
Family leave – can carry forward up to 28 days.
Sickness absence – up to 20 days as long as it is taken within 18 months starting from the end of the leave year in which it was accrued.
Paternity Leave
New Regulations are expected early March 2024.
The amendments 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.
Eligible employed fathers and partners can take paternity leave in two one-week, non-consecutive blocks or one two-week block.
Can 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 four weeks, meaning leave can be taken at shorter notice.
For domestic adoption cases, the notice period for leave will remain within seven days of the adopter having received notice of being matched with a child as the domestic adoption process is inherently less predictable than birth, and children may be placed at short notice following being matched with their adoptive parents.
After giving initial notice they may vary any dates given if they give 28 days’ notice of the variation, enabling them to change planned dates at a later stage.
Workplace Sexual Harassment
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 places a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment.
Introduces a mandatory duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This will include the requirement to train employees. Amelore will be offering training and more details will follow.
Provides tribunals with the power to increase compensation by up to 25% where a claim of sexual harassment is upheld and the employer has breached this duty.
The new law will not give individuals the right to bring a free-standing claim for breach of preventative duty.
What ‘reasonable steps’ means will depend on the specific circumstances of the employer, for example the size and sector, and other relevant factors.
Not every step will be reasonable for every employer to take.
Carer’s Leave Act 2023
The Carer's Leave Act 2023 provides employees who have caring responsibilities for dependants with a long-term care need with a right to one week's unpaid leave per year.
From 6 April 2024 employees will be entitled to take one week's unpaid leave a year to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need.
Employers cannot decline a request altogether but may postpone carer's leave by up to a month in certain circumstances.
Employers should be prepared to incorporate carer's leave into their family-friendly policies and procedures. The other key aspects of the new right are that:
Carer's leave will be a "day one" right, meaning that staff will not require a minimum period of service;
Entitlement will depend on the relationship between the carer and the person being cared for, with a focus on dependants with a long-term care need or terminal illness;
Eligible employees will be able to take five days' carer's leave per year, as individual or half days; and
Employers will be able to ask employees to self-certify that they are eligible, with no evidential requirements (for example details of the dependant's condition or caring activities being undertaken).
Changes to TUPE - 1st July 2024
Remove the requirement to elect employee representatives for:
Employers with fewer than 50 employees; or
Employers of any size involved in a transfer of fewer than ten employees.
In either case, the employer will be able to consult directly with employees, where no existing employee representatives are in place (for transfers taking place on or after 1 July 2024)
Data Protection Law Changes
The changes are designed to reduce some of the compliance burden of the UK GDPR, but it does not signify a radical departure from the current law in the EU.
Looking ahead at future Employment Legislation
These laws have been set, but the implementation date is expected to be late 2024 or 2025, so you've got some breathing room to plan and get things organised.
Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
This Act extends protection from redundancy to cover time off for pregnancy, adoption, shared parental leave, and six months after returning to work. It got the go-ahead on 24th May 2023. The details are still to come but are anticipated in 2024.
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
New parents get an extra 12 weeks of paid leave under this Act if their newborn (up to 28 days old) has to stay in the hospital for a week or more. This was signed off on 24th May 2023. The full rollout is expected by April 2025, but some parts might come into effect sooner.
Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023
From 18th September 2023, this Act means that workers, including those on zero-hour contracts, can ask for a more stable work schedule. If they're not sure about the hours or times they're working, or if they're on a short-term contract (less than 12 months), they can ask to make it more predictable. Employers have a month to respond to these requests and can only say no for specific reasons. It looks like workers might need to have been employed for 26 weeks before they can ask, but we're waiting for more details on that. This should all be in place within a year.
Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023
This one is about making sure all tips, gratuities, and service charges go straight to staff, shared out fairly. It got the official nod (Royal Assent) on 2nd May 2023, though we're not sure exactly when it'll start, but it looks likely to be 2024. This gives the government time to prepare a new set of guidelines. Once that's all clear, policies will require updating.
Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
This law is about making sure certain important and critical services don't completely stop during strikes. It got parliamentary approval on 20th July 2023. On 16 November 2023, the Department for Business and Trade issued guidance for employers, trade unions, and workers in relation to work notices issued under minimum service level provisions.
Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023
Finally, this act, approved on 18th September 2023, will lower the age limit for automatically enrolling your employees into a pension scheme from 22 down to 18. The Department for Work and Pensions will be asking for thoughts on how to put this into action soon.