Written in collaboration with Julie Sabba, MLP Law Associate.
You’ve likely heard by now that the UK Government has confirmed several employment law changes coming into effect from April 2024.
We’ve collaborated up with the experts from MLP Law to breakdown these important changes, so you’re able to understand how they will affect your organisation, and steps you need to take to ensure your business and teams are prepared.
From April 2024, several significant changes will come into effect that focus on families.
The first change is that the current laws offering protection for employees on maternity leave will be extended to pregnant employees.
“Currently, employees on maternity leave have more rights and protection against redundancy than other staff. And from 6th April 2024, pregnant employees will have those rights too.” – Peninsula.
This means employers will need to carefully consider the protections of their pregnant staff in redundancy situations.
The protection is valid from the moment a staff member tells you about a pregnancy, up until 18 months after childbirth. This same protection will also apply to those who take maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Also being introduced from April 2024 – employees who care for dependants with long term needs will be granted a new entitlement of one week of unpaid leave each year. This right to statutory carer’s leave will be available to all employees from day one of their employment.
In an effort to encourage flexible working practices in the workplace, employees will have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment (rather than the current 26 weeks). This will come into effect from April 2024.
Employees will also be able to make two requests in any 12-month period (up from one), and will no longer have to explain the effect of the change requested, as they do currently.
Once the change comes in, employers will have a legal duty to consult with staff about their requests and make a decision about any request within two months of receiving it (rather than the current three). The reasons for lawfully denying a flexible work request will remain the same.
From September 2024 certain workers – including zero hour workers and agency workers – will have the right to request more predictable terms and conditions of work.
Peninusla writes that they expect that eligible workers will be able to ask for more predictable hours once they have 26 weeks of service or more.
In addition to the predictable working changes, new rules are also to set to be made around rolled up holiday pay (at an accrual rate of 12.07%) .
The goal is to make it easier for employers to calculate holiday entitlement for their staff who work irregular hours (e.g. zero-hour workers and part-year workers). And to ensure that worker holiday entitlement better reflects the hours employees work across a year.
Employers will now be able to choose whether to calculate holiday entitlements by way of a reference period (as they currently do), or by applying a rate of 12.07% to the workers’ earnings during any pay period.
An amendment to the Equality Act 2010, due to come into force in October 2024, will introduce a duty on employers to take reasonable steps to help prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
Currently, there is no legal requirement to take proactive steps to prevent harassment (like having a policy or giving training). However with this new change, businesses must take active steps to prevent harassment and protect workers.
This applies whether an incident has occurred or not. And employees will have the right to raise official complaints if they see you are not taking proactive action.
If an employer has found to breach the new duty, tribunals can uplift compensation by up to 25%.
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If you would like advice from the Employment Team at MLP Law in relation of any of the issues raised here or more generally, get in touch on 0161 926 9969 or employment@mlplaw.co.uk
Starting out her early career as a journalist, Jade Madeley is an accomplished content writer with 8+ years’ experience across business, personal finance, SaaS, human resources and employee engagement. Working with Stribe, she crafts insightful content that brings complex HR topics to life and drives meaningful action.
