Employment Law round up 2024
Round up of 2024
2024 has brought a wave of employment law changes. To ensure you're up to speed, I’ve put together a handy summary of the key updates you might have missed:
Carers Leave Act. Anyone who is legally classed as an employee can take time off to help a dependant who needs long-term care. Effective 6 April 2024.
Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 extended the period of special protection from redundancy for employees who are on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave to 18 months after birth or adoption, and to during pregnancy. Effective 6 April 2024.
Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The right to make a flexible working request applies when an employee begins employment. Effective 6 April 2024.
Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 introduced new flexibilities around how paternity leave can be taken. Effective 6 April 2024.
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 created a legal obligation on employers to allocate to workers all tips, gratuities and service charges which they are paid or which they exercise control or significant influence, without making any deductions. Effective 1 October 2024.
Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 places a statutory duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Effective 26 October 2024.
Changes to look out for in 2025
Statutory Neonatal Care and Pay (SNCP) is scheduled to be introduced in April 2025.
Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 gives fathers and partners a day-one right to take paternity leave where a mother has died. No effective date has been released yet.
Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Bill makes legislative changes to apprenticeships and technical qualifications to facilitate the Government’s establishment of Skills England, a new public body to tackle skills shortages and support economic growth. No effective date has been released yet.
Taxation of Employee Ownership Trusts and Employee Benefit Trusts. Following a consultation on the taxation of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) and Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) during the summer of 2023, the Government intends to legislate to prevent unintended tax advantages being obtained through use of these trusts. No effective date has been released yet.
The "biggy" aka the Employment Rights Bill
The shift to a Labour government has brought significant attention to its plans for the Employment Rights Bill. This legislation aims to modernise and expand current employment rights while introducing new protections for workers. It will address pay and working conditions in specific sectors, reform trade union and industrial action laws, and establish a new Fair Work Agency to consolidate the enforcement of employment law.
The Bill proposes several key measures:
Extending employment rights to begin on the first day of work, including protection from unfair dismissal and access to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.
Introducing universal bereavement leave, expanding eligibility beyond parents.
Requiring employers to provide reasonable explanations when denying flexible working requests.
Granting workers on zero-hours contracts the right to secure a guaranteed-hours contract if they maintain regular hours over a set period.
Prohibiting "fire and re-hire" practices by making it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a contract change.
Strengthening collective redundancy provisions.
Modernising trade union legislation.
Establishing Fair Pay Agreements for sectors such as adult social care.
Reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
Increasing protections against sexual harassment, including making employers liable for third-party harassment.
Mandating large employers to develop gender and menopause action plans.
Banning the dismissal of women during pregnancy, maternity leave, and a six-month return-to-work period, except under specific conditions. Removing the waiting period and lower earnings threshold for Statutory Sick Pay eligibility.
Repealing laws requiring minimum service levels during strikes.
The newly proposed Fair Work Agency will unify existing bodies tasked with enforcing employment laws, ensuring streamlined and effective oversight.
The government plans to begin consultations on these reforms in 2025, with most changes expected to take effect no earlier than 2026. However, reforms regarding unfair dismissal will not be implemented until at least autumn 2026
And finally....
I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Here’s to a joyful festive period and an exciting 2025!
Is your business ready for the changes to sexual harassment?
This update focuses on the new changes to sexual harassment that you need to be aware of as a business which come into force on the 26 October 2024. These changes are quite timely, given the recent allegations in the press relating to sexual harassment, such as Harrods and Mohammed Al-Fayed and also Puff Daddy and Justin Bieber.
These changes place a statutory duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. It’s also critical to think about these changes in respect of any social parties linked to work, Christmas parties will be here before you know it!
What is sexual harassment?
The Equality Act 2010 defines Sexual harassment as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a worker, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them or when a person is treated less favourably because they submitted to, or rejected, that unwanted conduct.
It includes worker-on-worker harassment, harassment by third parties, and harassment by agents acting on behalf of an employer.
Experiencing sexual harassment is one of the most difficult situations a worker can face. Although all workers are protected from sexual harassment in the workplace (from both employment law and criminal law, depending on the circumstances involved), recent research suggests that 40% of women and 10% of men have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace.
Now
Employers are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees unless they take reasonable steps to prevent harassment
You need to show that you have taken those reasonable steps when you are defending a claim at an employment tribunal
From 26 October 2024
Employees can complain to the EHRC – the UK Equalities Regulator, that you are not taking reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, even when no allegations have been made. The EHRC can take enforcement action against employers
You must take proactive action in respect of your workers and third parties
Compensation at employment tribunals can be increased by up to 25%
What these changes mean for employers
The changes emphasise the need for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment
Employers should consider conducting a risk assessment on the likelihood of sexual harassment occurring, from colleagues, customers, clients, visitors etc
Employers should take reasonable steps to reduce any risks identified as part of the risk assessment and prevent sexual harassment from taking place
Deciding what is reasonable
This will depend on several factors, including:
Size and resources of the employer
Nature of the working environment
Sector the employer operates
The risks present in the workplace
Nature of any contact with third parties
8 Steps to help you prevent sexual harassment
The EHRC has suggested that employers consider taking the following steps to help prevent sexual harassment:
1. Develop an effective anti-harassment policy
2. Engage your employees
3. Assess and take steps to reduce the risk in your workplace
4. Reporting
5. Training
6. Consider what you will do when a harassment complaint is made?
7. Consider how you will deal with harassment by third parties?
8. Monitor and evaluate your actions
What are your risk areas?
Consider the risks of sexual harassment occurring in the course of employment for your staff
Consider the steps you could take to prevent sexual harassment of workers by other workers and by third parties
Consider which of those steps it would be reasonable for you to take
Implement those reasonable steps
Third party harassment
Any steps you take must include steps to take to prevent third party harassment. However, enforcement is different, if an employee is sexually harassed by a customer, they cannot make a claim to an employment tribunal that you are liable for it. However, they can if it’s a colleague who has harassed them.
HR Documentation
Complete a risk assessment – decide what steps are reasonable for you to take
Implement a sexual harassment policy
Implement an action log to assign responsibilities to enable steps to be implemented
Implement a training log to record what employees have received training on sexual harassment. Follow this up with refresher training.
Implement an incident log to record any incidents that have taken place and what steps have been taken as a result
Michelle’s top tips
My top tips for complying with the new duty to prevent sexual harassment are:
Documentation is key
The “it was only a joke” defence rarely stands up in an employment tribunal
Remember - sexual harassment doesn’t need to be directed at a particular person, if an employee feels intimidated, degraded, humiliated of offended they can submit a claim
How can I help you?
I can provide:
Template risk assessments, action plans, complaint logs and training records
Customisable template documents including policies and letters
Training materials, online or in person. Including covering discrimination, diversity and harassment
In-depth guidance on the law on harassment
The latest news on legal developments
And much more………
Don’t forget other recent legislation changes….
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into effect on the 1st October 2024 and created a legal obligation on employers to allocate to workers all tips, gratuities and service charges which they are paid or which they exercise control or significant influence, without making any deductions.