National Minimum Wage
The highest rate of the NMW, the National Living Wage, will be extended from workers aged 23 and over to those aged 21 and 22, who have been paid a lower rate.
Flexible Working Requests
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 & The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 will introduce the following changes in respect of flexible working requests:
- the right to request flexible working will become a day one right;
- employees will be able to make two requests in any twelve-month period instead of one;
- employers will only have two months to respond to requests, instead of three;
- employers will be unable to reject requests until they have consulted employees; and
- employees will no longer need to set out the effects of their request on the employer and explain how these might be dealt with.
ACAS have prepared an updated draft statutory Code of Practice anticipating the above changes.
The grounds on which employers may lawfully reject a flexible working request remain unchanged. (It should be remembered however that rejection of a statutory request for these reasons may be insufficient to defend a claim of indirect discrimination. An indirectly discriminatory requirement is only lawful if it is an appropriate and necessary means of achieving a legitimate aim).
Protection from Redundancy during Family Leave
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 and the Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 will extend existing redundancy protection (i.e. the right to be offered suitable alternative employment within any company or associated company in the event of redundancy) for those on maternity, adoption and shared parental leave as follows:
- Pregnancy. Redundancy protection will start when an employee tells their employer about their pregnancy. If the employee is entitled to statutory maternity leave, the protected period of pregnancy will end on the day the statutory maternity leave starts. If the pregnancy ends and they are not entitled to statutory maternity leave, the protected period ends two weeks after the end of pregnancy.
- Maternity leave. The additional protected period will end 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, unless the employee has informed the employer of the date of their child's birth, in which case the additional protected period will end 18 months after that date.
- Adoption leave. The additional protected period ends 18 months after the child's placement or the date they enter Great Britain (in the case of overseas adoption).
- Shared parental leave. For those taking six or more consecutive weeks of shared parental leave but who have not taken 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 Great Britain).
Where the protected period covers pregnancy, the new rules would apply where the employee notifies their employer of their pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024. Where it relates to a period after relevant leave, the new rules would apply to maternity and adoption leave ending on or after 6 April 2024 and to a period of six consecutive weeks' shared parental leave starting on or after 6 April 2024.
Carers Leave
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 and Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 entitle employees to take up to one week of unpaid leave in any 12-month period to provide, or arrange, care for a dependent with a long-term care need (related to a disability, age or a medical condition requiring more than three months’ care). Leave can be taken in increments of half-days or more. Employees will need to provide twice the number of days’ notice as the period of leave requested or three days’ notice; whichever is earlier. Employers will be able to postpone if the business would be unduly disrupted (by giving notice om the earlier of seven days after the employee’s request or before the earliest day of leave requested) and consult with the employee about rescheduling leave within a month of their original request. Leave cannot however be refused. Employers are precluded from obtaining evidence in support of a carer’s leave before it is taken. Terms and conditions are retained during carer’s leave with the exception of remuneration and the employee will have the right to return to their original job following leave. Protection against detriment and dismissal are provided by the new legislation.
Paternity Leave
The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 will amend existing regulations and enable eligible fathers & partners to:
- take statutory paternity leave and pay in two non-consecutive one week blocks, rather than having to decide between taking one week only or taking two consecutive weeks’ leave; and
- take leave and pay at any time in the first year after birth or placement for adoption, rather than in the first eight weeks.
Notice to take leave will be 28 days, save in domestic adoption cases where the notice period for leave will remain within seven days of the adopter having received notice of having been matched with a child (since the domestic adoption process is inherently less predictable than birth and children may be placed at short notice following being matched with their adoptive parents). Fathers or partners who has given an initial notice may vary any dates at a later stage given by giving 28 days' notice.
