UK Employment Legislation Updates – April 2024

Introduction

From 6th April several changes to UK Employment Legislation come in to effect that are in addition to the usual annual updates such as National Minimum Wage.

It is important to understand how all these updates will affect you and what next steps your business needs to take to prepare.

Top 3 UK Employment Legislation changes

The key changes that will be passed into law and will come into force in April 2024 are:

Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023

The new Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023 is aimed at given more workers in the UK with more flexibility over where and when they work.

Employers will be permitted to make Flexible Working Requests on their first day of employment rather than the current 26 week limit. Employers will also be required to respond to any flexible working requests within 2 months rather than the existing 3 months.

Additionally, employees can now request 2 requests for flexible working in any 12 month period rather than the 1 request they can currently make.

Read our article on Managing Flexible Working Requests using YouManageHR.

Carer’s Leave Act 2023

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 entitles any employee caring for a spouse, civil partner, child, parent or other dependant (due to disability, Age, illness or injury requiring at least 3 months care) to unpaid.

Employees will be entitled to a maximum of 1 week per year leave from the day of employment without a qualifying period.

Leave can be taken flexibly but a minimum amount of notice is required, equating to either double the amount of time requested or 3 days, whichever is longer.

Employers cannot reject Carers Leave however they can postpone it if it is deemed the leave will unduly disrupt the business.

Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

The new Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 extends the special protection in a redundancy situation for employees on maternity, shared parental leave or adoption leave to 18 months. 

How to Prepare

To prepare for changes to UK Employment Legislation it is advisable to:

• Review your procedures
• Update your policies and employee handbooks
• Create new policies where required
• Provide training for key stakeholders
• Ensure your HR software is updated or can be configured to accommodate changes.

Further UK Employee Legislation updates

The following changes to UK Employment Legislation are also expected in 2024

• Calculating holiday pay and leave – for leave years starting on or after April 2024There’s a ban on
• withholding tips from workers – coming in July 2024
• A new right to request a more predictable working pattern – expected in September 2024
• Statutory neonatal care leave – expected in October 2024
• A pro-active duty to prevent sexual harassment at work – expected in October 2024
• New minimum staffing levels for key emergency sectors during strikes.
• Changes to statutory maternity pay and sick pay rates.
• Changes to the age criteria for being auto-enrolled in a pension scheme.

More information

If you would like to learn more about how a HR system can help your organisation please contact us on 0330 223 6180 or via email enquiries@Peoplefirsthr.co.uk . Alternatively, click the button below to request more information and one of our consultants will be in touch shortly.