Employment
01 Employ Here is a brief run down of what has already changed in employment law in 2024 and what changes look likely to be proposed in the Employment Rights Bill.
Changes that have already been implemented
1. Flexible The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 was also brought into force and this made the following changes to the flexible working regime:
Employees may make two requests a year
- Employees no longer have to explain in their request what effect their requested change may have on the employer and how any such effect might be dealt with
- Employers must consult the employee before refusing their request
- Employers must make a decision on a request (subject to agreeing a longer decision period) including any appeal within two months.
- 2. Un The Employee A Anyone The Ma The The The rules apply to maternity leave ending on or after 6 April 2024.
There are similar provisions for:
- Adoption leave ending on or after 6 April 2024 – the additional protection ends the day after a period of 18 months beginning with the day the child is placed with the employee for adoption.
- Shared parental leave of six weeks or more starting on or after 6 April 2024 – for those taking six or more consecutive weeks of shared parental leave, who have not taken a period of maternity or adoption leave, the additional protected period ends 18 months after the date of the child’s birth or placement, or date they enter the UK.
- An employee benefiting from this extended redundancy protection is not excluded from being selected for redundancy. The The Paternity leave
The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 apply from 6 April 2024 and provide:
Fathers/partners can take paternity leave at any point in the first year after birth/adoption
- They can break their two-week paternity leave entitlement into two one-week blocks if they wish
- The notice requirements are partially relaxed for birth cases. The The TUPE consultation duties relaxed
- The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 made changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) to reform the consultation requirements for smaller businesses for transfers taking place on or after 1 July 2024.
- The circumstances in which employers can inform and consult directly with employees where no existing employee representatives are in place, are now extended and the requirement to elect employee representatives does not apply if:
- The employer employs fewer than 50 employees; or
There are fewer than 10 employees who are likely to be)transferred.
6. The The code is not legislation and so is not legally binding on employers but employment tribunals have the power to apply an uplift of 25% of an employee’s compensation if an employer unreasonably fails to comply with the code where it applies.
- Proposed Changes
- These were recently set out in the King’s Speech, Labour outlined its commitment to deliver the following:
- Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts.
End “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace”.
Make parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal a day one right for all workers (subject to probationary periods to allow employers to assess new hires).
Remove the lower earnings limit and the waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
- Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers.
- Strengthen protections for new mothers, making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return, other than in exceptional circumstances.
Establish a Fair Work Agency to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights.
Update trade union legislation, removing restrictions on trade union activity and simplifying the statutory recognition process.
The Employment Rights Bill hasn’t yet been published (it should be within the first 100 days of this government entering into power). The We
