With Easter Eggs being on the shelf since Christmas, it might seem a bit puzzling to now realise Easter is around the corner, as we now speed towards April 2024.

With the overload of chocolate and easter holiday activities, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the April employment law changes coming into force this April 2024.

For those who missed out on our sold-out Annual Employment Law Conference, we have compiled a special easter HR checklist to give you a spring to your step for April!

National Living Wage Increase

The National Minimum Wage rate and National Living Wage rate will change on 1 April 2023, the new rates will be:

In addition, the age rate of 21 to 22 will disappear, and all workers aged 21 and over will be entitled to the National Living Wage of £11.44 per hour.

It is advisable to update your payroll process and check your staff contracts to make sure those who are salaried are not falling below the new National Minimum Wages increases in relation to the hours they work.

Holiday for Irregular Hours or Part-year Workers

From the 1^st of April 2024, there is a new option of calculating holiday pay for irregular hours or part-year workers.

From holiday years starting from or after 1^st April 2024, employers can pay these workers rolled-up holiday pay at 12.07% of all pay for work done at the same time the work is done for that pay period. When they take a holiday they will then not be paid in addition to this payment already made.

It is advisable to make sure the pay slips clearly show the difference in pay between their usual pay and their rolled-up holiday pay if you are opting to pay rolled-up holiday pay.

Carer’s Leave

There is new legislation around carers, from 6 April employees are entitled from day one of employment to one week of unpaid leave per year if needing to provide or arrange care for a dependant.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 makes leave available to employees who give or arrange care for a child or adult who has

• a physical or mental illness or injury that means they need care for more than three months
• a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010
• care needs because of their old age.

It is advisable to update your policy and create a carer’s leave policies which defines how the leave will work within your workplace for these mandatory changes.

Flexible Working Changes

From 6 April 2023, the new Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 makes several changes to the flexible working rights of employees. These include

• allowing employees to have the right to request flexible working from day one
• allowing employees to make two flexible working requests each 12 months
• The employer must consult with an employee before refusing a flexible working request
• employee are no longer required to explain or justify the impact of their proposed changes to their work
• the employer must respond to the request within 2 months of the request (currently 3 months)

It is advisable to update your flexible working policy and offer training to line managers on how to deal with such requests.

Paternity Leave Changes

The new Paternity Leave Amendment Regulations 2024 will apply for fathers of partners where the expected week of child birth falls on or after 6 April 2023 to split paternity leave into two blocks of one week in the total 52 weeks (compared to the previous 56 day) after the birth or adoption of a child.

It is advisable to update your policies to reflect this change and this will work within your workplace.

Redundancy Protection

The new Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 will apply from 6 April 2024 to extend the protection period for redundancy.

The protection period will now be from the point an employee informs their employe they are pregnant until 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, birth date, adoption date.

It is advisable if undertaking a redundancy to investing in some careful planning to avoid any possible pregnancy or maternity discrimination claims.

Statutory Pay Rates

The rates of Statutory Sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay , statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory parental bereavement will change on 6 April 2023, the new rates will be:

Statutory Sick pay will increase to £116.75 per week. All other statutory pay will increase to £184.03 per week.

It is advisable to update your payroll process if you do not offer company pay for sickness or leave. It may be wise to make managers aware of the changes so they can handle conversations with confidence around leave and pay.

Employment Tribunal Award Increases

As normal this time of year the caps on award claims at an Employment Tribunal are increasing on 6 April 2024.

The changes will increase the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal to £115,115 and the weekly pay applied for basic awards for statutory redundancy pay and unfair dismissal claims will increase to £700.

We offer a fixed fee HR & Legal Watertight Plan to help keep you up to date on changes in the workplace with a dedicated advisor. Our Watertight Hub also allows you to browse and select procedural letters needed for your situation.

Sexual Harassment Protection 

There’s a significant change coming to sexual harassment protection in October 2024, thanks to the Worker Protection Act 2023. Here’s a breakdown:

New Duty on Employers:

• Employers will be legally required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
• This shifts the focus from reacting to incidents to proactively preventing them.
• Failing to take these steps could result in increased compensation for victims.

What this means:

• Employers should be implementing procedures to prevent harassment by October.
• This might include training for staff, clear reporting mechanisms, and robust anti-harassment policies.
• Employees will have stronger legal protection if they experience sexual harassment.

If you need advice and want to how we can help you please contact us on 0333 888 1360 or complete the enquiry form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.