As a business owner or manager, it’s crucial to stay current with the latest rules and regulations on workers’ rights and entitlements. With this in mind, we outline the fundamental employment law changes currently in force and those due to take effect later in 2024.
One of the most notable employment law changes effective from 6 April 2024 is the right to make a flexible working request from the first day of a job. Previously, employees had to serve a minimum of 26 weeks before they could make any such request.
Additionally, new measures introduced in the Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023 mean that:
Employers must manage requests in a reasonable manner. They can only reject a flexible working request for one of the following 8 business reasons, as set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996:
If the employer rejects a request for flexible working, they must notify the employee in writing and explain the business reason for their decision.
Where the employer agrees to the request (or a modified arrangement), they must write to the employee with a statement of the agreed changes and a start date for the new flexible working arrangement.
Detailed guidance is available in the Acas Code of Practice on flexible working requests .
For leave (holiday) years starting on or after 1 April 2024, the Government has introduced the following reforms for irregular-hours and part-year workers:
The Working Time Regulations 1998 ( Section 15F ) defines irregular hours and part-year workers as follows:
The new regulations also allow workers to carry over their unused holiday entitlement into the following leave year, if they can’t take some or all of their leave because they are sick or on family-related leave.
Similarly, they can carry over unused leave entitlement if:
Further guidance on holiday pay and entitlement reforms is available at GOV.UK
As of 6 April 2024, the priority status of legal protection from redundancy has been extended to include pregnant employees, rather than only those on maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave.
One of several employment law changes impacting parents, pregnant employees are now protected from the moment they notify their employer about their pregnancy until 18 months after the child’s date of birth. It also extends to 18 months for employees taking adoption leave or at least 6 weeks of shared parental leave.
This special protection means that employers must give first refusal of other vacancies to such individuals if their role is made redundant. However, where no appropriate vacancy is available, they may still be made redundant.
These measures were introduced by the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 , and the Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 .
The Government has introduced greater flexibility for those taking Statutory Paternity Leave from 6 April 2024. Under the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, eligible employees:
There are no changes to eligibility rules. Detailed guidance on Statutory Paternity Leave is available at GOV.UK
From 6 April 2024, any employee who cares for a dependent with long-term care needs has the right to take statutory carer’s leave. There is no qualifying period – this entitlement is available to employees from their first day on the job.
Introduced by the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 and Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 , eligible employees can take one week of unpaid carer’s leave every 12 months to provide or arrange care for any dependent who has:
A ‘dependent’ does not have to be a family member. It refers to any person who relies on the employee for care. This is separate to unpaid parental leave .
Employees can choose to take their unpaid carer’s leave as a whole week at once, or they can take individual days or half days off throughout the year.
A ‘week’ refers to the length of time an employee usually works over a 7-day period. For example, if they normally work 3 days per week, they can take 3 days of unpaid carer’s leave every 12 months.
Depending on how many days they want to take off, the worker must give the following minimum notice to their employer before their leave starts:
The worker’s employment rights are protected during their carer’s leave. This includes holidays and their right to return to their job.
More information on unpaid carer’s leave is available at GOV.UK
To tackle controversial dismissal tactics and protect workers’ rights, the UK Government plans to introduce its first Statutory Code of Practice on ‘Dismissal and Re-engagement’ practices. Due to take effect from July 2024, this will apply to businesses in England, Scotland, and Wales.
More commonly known as ‘fire and rehire’, dismissal and re-engagement refers to when a business fires an employee and then offers them a new contract on different terms, which is often less favourable to the worker.
Designed to crack down on instances of employers mistreating their employees, the new Code of Practice sets out how businesses must behave when seeking to change the existing terms and conditions in an employee’s contract.
Under the new rules, employers must also explore alternative options to fire and rehire, refrain from using threats of dismissal to pressurise workers into accepting new terms, and engage in early and meaningful discussions with workers or trade unions to reach an agreed outcome.
Any business considering fire and rehire as a last resort must contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) for advice before raising any such prospect with its employees.
Expected to come into force around September 2024, new measures in the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 will provide workers on zero-hours contracts and other atypical working patterns with the right to request more predictable working patterns.
To be eligible, the worker must meet the following criteria:
If a worker makes an application for flexible working and it would have the same effect in providing a more predictable working pattern, this would also count towards their permitted two applications per year.
Employers can reject a worker’s request on the same statutory grounds applicable to flexible working applications, including the burden of additional costs on the business.
Acas has published a draft Code of Practice on handling requests for a predictable working pattern . This is designed to help employers implement new procedures and ensure compliance.
To promote fairness and transparency, the government will introduce a new Code of Practice on the distribution of tips, gratuities, and service charges. This will have legal effect under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.
These changes, which are due to come into force on 1 October 2024 (delayed from the original implementation date of 1 July), mean that employers must:
In situations where an employer receives workers’ tips directly (e.g. when a customer pays by card), they must distribute the tips as part of the next payroll cycle.
These new measures will apply to all industries in England, Scotland, and Wales. Employment policy in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.
Under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 , employers will have a new statutory duty to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment at work by any perpetrator, including third parties such as customers, clients, and members of the public.
Employment tribunals will also have the power to increase compensation to claimants by up to 25%, if they find that an employer has breached this preventative duty.
To prevent and tackle sexual harassment in workplaces, employers must be proactive and systematic in their approach. They will need to show evidence of the reasonable steps they have taken.
Whilst we await official guidance on what these ‘reasonable steps’ will be, the CIPD’s guidance recommends that employers focus their attention on several priority areas, including:
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has also indicated that it will publish updated guidance in September ahead of these legislative reforms, which are due to come into force on 27 October 2024.
Due to take effect in April 2025, the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 makes provision for employees with responsibility for babies receiving neonatal care after birth.
This new legislation means that parents will have the right to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave from work, in addition to their other leave entitlements such as maternity, paternity, or shared parental leave.
Neonatal care leave will be a day one right, which means that employees will be entitled to this leave from their first day in a new job. It will apply to parents of babies admitted to hospital up to the age of 28 days, and who spend at least 7 consecutive days in hospital.
To qualify for neonatal care pay, the individual must be employed for at least 26 weeks before the leave is requested, with normal earnings of at least £123 per week (the Lower Earnings Limit). Furthermore, they must take the leave within 68 weeks of the child’s birth.
Full guidance on neonatal care leave and pay will be available in due course. Thereafter, employers will need to update their family leave and pay policies accordingly.
2024 is a year of several major employment law changes, many of which are now in effect. Whether you’re an employer, manager, or HR professional, staying abreast of these reforms is vital to ensure continued compliance.
If you have any questions about employment law or workplace issues, you can contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) helpline for confidential, free advice.
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