Employment law changes in force from April 2024

Posted: 05/04/2024

This month sees various pieces of new employment legislation come into force. As well as the usual annual uplift to statutory payments, April also brings new family friendly rights and changes to the flexible work regime, among other developments. The key changes, of which employers should be aware, are outlined below.

Working time and flexible working

New flexible working laws mean millions of workers will have more flexibility over where and when they work. From 6 April, the right to request flexible working will be made a ‘day one’ right, removing the current qualifying period of 26 weeks’ continuous employment.

Remember that this is still only a right to make a flexible working request, and there is no absolute right to work flexibly. Employers can refuse a flexible working request on the same eight statutory grounds as previously; however, under the new rules, there are stricter requirements in relation to consulting with the employee and exploring alternative options before turning down any request.

Employees will be entitled to make two requests (up from one) in a 12-month period, and they will no longer have to explain the effect of the change requested on the employer’s business, as they did previously. Employers will need to respond to such a request within two months (down from three), unless agreed otherwise with the employee. Acas has issued a more detailed Code of Practice on requests for flexible working, which employers should follow when handling a flexible working request.

Employers should ensure that existing flexible working policies are updated to reflect these changes.

Extension of redundancy protection

Previously, employees on maternity leave, shared parental leave, or adoption leave, were entitled to be offered suitable alternative employment, if it exists, where their role was at risk of redundancy, in priority to anyone else provisionally selected for redundancy.

However, as of 6 April, these protections are extended to:

• pregnant employees – employees are protected from the moment they notify their employer of their pregnancy and for an 18-month period after the birth of their child;
• employees who have taken adoption leave – protection extends for 18 months from the date of placement or, in the case of overseas adoptions, from the date the child enters the UK; and
• employees taking fewer than six weeks’ shared parental leave – such employees will have additional protection during their period of leave. However, those who take more than six continuous weeks of shared parental leave will be protected for 18 months after the birth.

Paternity leave

A number of changes came into effect for employees whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) or placement for adoption begins on or after 6 April.

Employees will have the right to take paternity leave as two separate one-week blocks as opposed to just one week or two consecutive weeks. Paternity leave can be taken at any time in the 52 weeks following birth or adoption, instead of having to take leave within the first 56 days.

Employees are still required to give at least 15 weeks’ notice before the EWC of their entitlement to take leave (or, if this is not reasonably practical, as soon as possible), but they do not have to confirm the exact dates of that leave until at least 28 days before the period of leave is due to start.

Again, any existing policies should be reviewed and updated where required.

Carer’s leave

From 6 April, new regulations allow employees to take up to one week’s unpaid leave per year to provide or arrange care for a dependant with long term care needs. This is a ‘day one’ right, and does not have to be taken all in one block. A dependent includes anyone who reasonably relies on the employee for care and ‘long term needs’ are defined as:

• anyone with a condition that meets the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010;
• illness or injury (physical or mental) that requires or is likely to require care for more than three months; or
• old age.

Employees will be able to take this leave flexibly but will have to give a minimum amount of notice. This will either be double the amount of time they have requested as leave, or three days, whichever is longer.

While an employer cannot refuse the employee’s request for carer’s leave, they can postpone a period of leave if it unduly disrupts the needs of the business. However, the leave must be given within one month of the date originally requested and a counter notice should be served setting out the reason for the postponement and the new date.

Employees will be protected from detriment and dismissal where the reason is that they took (or are requesting to take) carer's leave.

Employers will need either to introduce a new policy or update any existing policies to reflect this new right. They should note that they cannot request proof of why the leave is required.

Statutory pay – sick pay, maternity, parents and carers

From 6 April, the rates of Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay increase from £172.48 to £184.03 per week. From 8 April, the rate of Maternity Allowance will also increase from £172.48 to £184.03 per week. Statutory Sick Pay increases from £109.40 to £116.75

National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW)

From 1 April, the NMW rates increased as follows:

• for apprentices, from £5.28 to £6.40 per hour;
• for 16 to 17-year-olds, from £5.28 to £6.40 per hour; and
• for 18 to 20-year-olds, from £7.49 to £8.60 per hour.

The NLW will now apply to all workers aged 21 or over, and is increased to £11.44 per hour. Also from 1 April, live-in domestic workers (such as nannies and au pairs) will be entitled to the NMW.

Holiday pay and leave

From 1 April, employers will be able to pay rolled-up holiday pay (ie when an additional supplement is added to the worker’s pay that represents the holiday pay they have accrued in that pay period, rather than granting a period of annual leave). Although technically unlawful, many employers choose to pay rolled-up holiday pay to irregular-hours workers, as it is a simple way of dealing with their leave entitlement, which can be difficult to calculate.

This practice is now permitted, but rolled-up holiday pay can only be paid to part-year workers (employees who have at least one week per year where they do not work and are not paid) and irregular-hours workers (whose paid hours of work in each pay period are wholly or mainly variable).

Holiday entitlement for these workers will accrue at the rate of 12.07% of the hours worked during that pay period.

Employment tribunals

Under article 3 of the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2024, various increased compensation limits for employment tribunal claims will come into force. From 6 April, the maximum amount of a week's pay (used for calculating various awards including statutory redundancy payments and unfair dismissal basic awards) increases to £700, and the maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award increases to £115,115.

Further changes

Further employment law changes are expected later this year, and of course the possibility of a forthcoming general election and a Labour government (if the polls are correct) may lead to significant changes, including a promised Employment Bill in Labour’s first 100 days in office.

Return to news headlines