Employment law is an ever-evolving, dynamic area of law. At the end of 2023, there was certainly a flurry of employment legislation introducing new employee rights and new obligations for employers. It is therefore crucial that employees keep on top of all these changes and make the necessary preparations ahead of time. As we welcome the new year, we summarise the main employment law changes on the horizon that your business should be aware of.
1. Flexible Working
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 come into force on 6 April 2023 and remove the requirement for employees to have at least 26 weeks’ service to be entitled to make a flexible working request. The Regulations were made in conjunction with the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which makes several changes to the right to flexible working, including that employees will be entitled to make two requests instead of one in any 12 months and employers will have to respond to a request within two months (reduced down from three months). Guidance is expected on this matter in January 2024.
2. Carers’ Rights
The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024, which have been laid before parliament in draft form, give details on how the new statutory right for employees to take a week’s unpaid leave to care for a dependent will work in practice. This right was set out in the Carer’s Leave Act 2023.
Under the Regulations, employees with caring responsibility for a dependent are entitled to take one week’s unpaid carer’s leave per year. Dependents are a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, a person who resides in the same household as the employee (other than a landlord or boarder) or a person who reasonably relies on the employee for care.
Carer’s leave will be a day one right; this means that employees will have this support from the moment they join the company. Leave can be taken by qualifying employees as half or full days, up to and including taking a block of a whole week of leave at once. The obligatory notice period is twice as many days as the period of leave required, in advance of the earliest day of the leave, and does not have to be in writing.
Employers can postpone a period of carer’s leave where this would unduly disrupt the operation of their business but they must give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable, and following consultation with the employee, should confirm a new date on which they can take the leave within a month of the original date requested.
These regulations are meant to come into effect on 6 April 2024.
3. Statutory Neonatal Care Leave
A new type of statutory leave for parents of (or those who have a responsibility for) babies in neonatal care was introduced by the government last year. These rights will not come into force until April 2025. However, despite the significant lead time, there will be some important considerations for employers to think about in advance.
This new right will allow employees who have babies in neonatal care to be able to have more time off work, on top of maternity and paternity leave. Again, this right will apply from day one of the job.
Employees will get a maximum of twelve weeks of neonatal leave and where an employee is eligible, an employer will also need to pay them for this leave at the same rate that they would pay for maternity pay.
4. Rights to Request a More Predictable Working Pattern
This is a new right for certain workers with unstable or unpredictable working hours, giving them the right to ask for more predictable working patterns. This would include zero-hour workers, agency workers and those on fixed-term contracts lasting less than a year.
This is expected to come into force in September 2024.
5. Law on Tips for Hospitality Workers
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 aims to ensure that staff receive the tips they have earned without any deductions, therefore making it unlawful for businesses to hold back tips from their employees. To be compliant with the new legislation, businesses must ensure that
- tips are fairly allocated amongst workers at that place of business
- tips are given to workers no later than the end of the month following the month in which the customer paid the tip, gratuity or service charge
- they have a written policy setting out how they deal with tips
- they keep a three-year record documenting how tips have been dealt with.
These requirements are expected to come into effect sometime in 2024.
6. Redundancy Protection Extended to Cover Pregnancy and Return for Family Leave
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 aims to improve redundancy protection for pregnant workers and working parents returning to the workplace after family-related leave.
Currently, employees on maternity leave have more protection against redundancy than other staff because an employer must consider suitable alternative roles for them before other employees. However, from April 2024, this protection will also extend to pregnant workers from the moment they tell the employer about their pregnancy up until 18 months after the birth of their child. Those returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave will also benefit from the same protection.
7. A Proactive Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work
The new Worker Protection Act 2023 places a legal duty on employers to take reasonable steps to help prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. You can read more about this new duty in our recent article here.
This legislation is expected to come into force in October 2024.
8. Calculating Holiday Pay and Leave
Currently, employers have to give holiday pay at the time that their staff takes annual leave and it is not possible to include holiday pay in their worker’s hourly rate (known as ‘rolled-up holiday pay’). However, the government has confirmed that businesses will be able to provide rolled-up holidays again, but only for staff who work irregular hours, such as zero-hour workers and part-year workers.
9. Changes to the National Minimum Wage
National minimum wage rises every year but in April 2024, we will also see a change in the bands.
Currently, workers aged 23 and over receive the highest rate of pay for the national minimum wage (called the National Living Wage). There are lower rates for workers aged 21 and 22, as well as those aged 18 to 20 and for those over compulsory school age but not yet 18 (or for those who are apprentices aged 19 and under).
The rate for workers who are 21 or 22 is going to disappear, pushing 21 and 22-year-olds into the highest band bracket. This means that everyone aged 21 or over will be entitled to the new rate for the National Living Wage, which will be £11.44 per hour from April 2024.
Employers need to ensure they are paying everyone the correct wage if they earn on or around the national minimum wage to avoid forking out hefty penalties and landing a spot on the government’s name-and-shame list.
We understand that there is a lot of new legislation to get to grips with in 2024, but we are on hand to help you navigate through it all. If you have any questions or concerns, get in touch with our expert employment team at info@witansolicitors.co.uk.
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