April 2024 Roundup: Key Employment Law Changes To Look Out For

Spring is finally in the air – and, with it, so are a whole host of changes in employment law for employers to look out for! April is always a busy month in the employment law calendar, and this year will see changes to the flexible working regime, family friendly rights and calculating holiday entitlement and pay for irregular and part-year workers, amongst the usual annual increases to national minimum wage and Employment Tribunal compensation limits.

Read on for a helpful summary of the key changes, as well as some important points to take-away for your business.

Flexible Working

From 6 April 2024, employees will have a “day one” right to request flexible working and no longer need to have at least 26 weeks’ continuous service before making a request.

Employees will be able to make two requests in any 12-month period (instead of just one).
Employees will no longer have to explain what effect the requested change would have on the business.
Employers will have to deal with the requests within two months (instead of three months).
Employers will not be able to refuse a request without first consulting the employee.

Take-away points:You may see an increase in flexible working requests, as well as any rejected requests swiftly being followed up by a second, slightly amended request. You should prepare for these changes by reviewing and updating your flexible working policy, and familiarising yourself with the ACAS Code of Practice on Requests for Flexible Working.

Paternity Leave

These changes will apply where the expected week of childbirth is after 6 April 2024, and to children expected to be placed for adoption on or after 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).
Employees will only have to give 28 days’ notice of their intention to take the leave (instead of 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth).

Take-away points: You should review and update your paternity leave policy to reflect these changes, and managers should also be aware so that leave can be planned and managed effectively.

Unpaid Carer’s Leave

From 6 April 2024,employees will have a “day one” right tone week of unpaid carer’s leave in any rolling 12-month period.

Employees who provide or arrange care for dependants with long-term care needs will qualify for carer’s leave. This includes 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).

Take-away points: You should implement a new carer’s leave policy (or update any policies referring to dependant leave) so that employees are aware of their entitlements, and so managers can handle any requests appropriately. Remember that you can postpone the leave on written notice if business operations would by unduly disrupted by it – as long as you allow it to be taken within one month of the original date requested and consult with the employee to agree the new date.

Extended Redundancy Protection

The law already gives employees on maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave extra protection from redundancy. They have the right to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy (if available), giving them priority access to redeployment opportunities over other redundant employees who are not on family-related leave.

However, this protection will no longer end once these employees have returned to work, and will be 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 (and are not protected under either of the two bullet points above).

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.

Take-away points: You will need to plan any redundancy processes with more care, keeping employees on family-related leave in mind and factoring in this enhanced protection when offering any suitable alternative employment.You may also need to update any redundancy policy which mentions redundancy protection.

Holiday Entitlement and Pay

The Government has made radical changes to calculating holiday entitlement and pay for irregular and part-year workers. Although the law changed on 1 January 2024, some of the key changes only apply to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024, including:

Employers can choose to “roll up” holiday pay for irregular workers and part-year workers – this can be done by applying a 12.07% uplift to a worker’s normal pay.
The accrual of holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers will be calculated as 12.07% of actual hours worked in a pay period.

There are a number of other key changes, which we previously reported here and here.

Take-away points: These reforms will be a relief to many, as you may find it quicker and easier to calculate holiday entitlement and pay for irregular and part-year workers. You should review the Government’s guidance for useful explanations and worked examples (although legal advice should be taken for any specific individual queries).

Payment Increases

The new national minimum wage rates will apply from 1 April 2024. The national living wage will increase from £10.42 to £11.44, and for the first time will apply to 21 and 22 year olds (instead of only those aged 23 and above).A summary of all the new rates can be found here.
From 7 April 2024, the statutory rates of maternity, paternity, adoption, shared-parental and parental bereavement pay will increase 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 will also increase from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.

Take-away points: You should make sure you review these increased rates and implement the changes to your payroll systems from the relevant date in April 2024.

New Employment Tribunal Compensation Limits and Vento Bands

Finally, the annual increase to Employment Tribunal compensation limits and other statutory payments will come into force on 6 April 2024 and apply to any relevant events occurring on or after that date.

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, which set out the guidelines for injury to feelings awards in discrimination cases, 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.

Jonathan Mumby comments: “April of this year will see a lot of significant changes being brought in.Employers should familiarise themselves with the upcoming changes, review and update their policies on flexible working, paternity leave, carer’s leave and redundancy, and ensure that managers are kept in the loop to avoid falling foul of the new laws and reforms. ”

If you have any questions on the upcoming changes or need help with reviewing and updating your policies, please contact a member of the team here.

The information on this site about legal matters is provided as a general guide only. Although we try to ensure that all of the information on this site is accurate and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed. The information on this site should not be relied upon or construed as constituting legal advice and Howes Percival LLP disclaims liability in relation to its use. You should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from taking any action.

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