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:
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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.
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Introducing universal bereavement leave, expanding eligibility beyond parents.
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Requiring employers to provide reasonable explanations when denying flexible working requests.
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Granting workers on zero-hours contracts the right to secure a guaranteed-hours contract if they maintain regular hours over a set period.
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Prohibiting “fire and re-hire” practices by making it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a contract change.
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Strengthening collective redundancy provisions.
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Modernising trade union legislation.
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Establishing Fair Pay Agreements for sectors such as adult social care.
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Reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
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Increasing protections against sexual harassment, including making employers liable for third-party harassment.
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Mandating large employers to develop gender and menopause action plans.
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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.
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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!
