06/06/2024
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE FROM 6 APRIL 2024
Changes to Flexible Working
All employees will have a “day one” right to request flexible working and no longer need to have a minimum of 26 weeks’ continuous service before making a request to your employer.
An Employee previously could only make one request in a 12 month period that has now been increased to allow the employee to make two requests in a 12 month period.
Employees will no longer have to explain what effect the requested change would have on the business and the Employer will have to respond to the requests within two months (instead of three months) and will not be able to refuse a request without first consulting the employee.
Paternity Leave
From 6 April 2024 Employees will be able to take statutory paternity leave in two separate, one week blocks (instead of taking only one week off, or two consecutive weeks off).
Employees will be able to take the leave at any point in the first year after birth (instead of having to take it in the first 56 days after birth).
Only 28 days’ notice of the employees intention to take the leave (instead of 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth) is required.
Unpaid Carer’s Leave
From 6 April 2024, employees will have a “day one” right to one week of unpaid carer’s leave in any rolling 12-month period.
Employees who provide or arrange care for their dependants with long-term care needs will qualify for carer’s leave .Dependents are a child, spouse, civil partner, parent, a person living in the same household, or any person who reasonably relies on them for care.
The leave can be taken in half or full days and does not have to be taken consecutively.
Employees need to give notice of their intention to take the leave which is either twice as long as the period of leave requested, or three days (whichever is longer).
Extended Redundancy Protection
Employees on maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave have extra protection from redundancy. They have the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (if available), giving them priority access to redeployment opportunities above other employees facing redundancy who are not on family-related leave.
This protection has been extended as follows:
Maternity leave: Employees will be protected from pregnancy up to 18 months after the first day of the estimated week of childbirth or the exact date of birth (if the employee notifies the employer of this date before the maternity leave ends);
Adoption leave: Employees will be protected up to 18 months after the placement for adoption; and
Shared parental leave: Employees will be protected up to 18 months after birth, as long as they have taken a period of at least six consecutive weeks of shared parental leave
This extended protection will apply to pregnancies which have been disclosed on or after 6 April 2024, and any maternity, adoption and shared parental leave ending on or after 6 April 2024.
Holiday Entitlement and Pay
Employers may now “roll up” holiday pay for irregular workers and part-year workers – by applying a 12.07% uplift to a worker’s normal pay.
The accrual of holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers is calculated as 12.07% of actual hours worked in a pay period.
Payment Increases
From 1 April 2024 the national living wage increased from £10.42 to £11.44, and now applies to 21 and 22 year olds
From 7 April 2024, the statutory rates of maternity, paternity, adoption, shared-parental and parental bereavement pay increased from £172.48 to £184.03 per week or 90% of an employee’s weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
From 6 April 2024, statutory sick pay increased from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.
Employment Tribunal Compensation Limits and Vento Bands
From 6 April 2024
The cap on a statutory week’s pay will increase from £643 to £700.
The cap on statutory redundancy pay, and the maximum basic award for unfair dismissal, will increase from £19,290 to £21,000.
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £105,707 to £115,115 (or a year’s gross pay, whichever is lower).
Statutory guarantee pay will increase from £35 per day to £38 per day (capped at five days or £190 in any three months).
The new Vento bands, will apply to claims presented on or after 6 April 2024.
Lower band (less serious cases): £1,200 to £11,700.
Middle band (cases that do not merit an award in the upper band): £11,700 to £35,200.
Upper band (the most serious cases): £35,200 to £58,700 although the most exceptional cases can exceed £58,700.
