This spring, we witnessed a significant wave of updates to employment law, and this summer, employers should prepare for more changes on the horizon.

With the General Election promises likely bringing even more changes to UK employment law, employers need to stay updated on the current changes set to come into force.

In this blog, we discuss the key changes that HR professionals and employers should be aware of and take action on now.

Statutory Code of Practice on “Fire and Rehire”

If there is a prospect of dismissal and re-engagement, there is a new statutory code of practice which sets out the procedure that employers should follow when proposing changes to an employee’s contractual terms.

Key Date: This code comes into force on the 18th of July 2024.

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023

Employers now have a new duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees during employment. This shift focuses on proactively preventing incidents rather than reacting to them. Failure to take these steps could result in increased compensation for victims.

Key Date: Implementation on the 26th of October 2024. Employers must take proactive measures now to educate their employees.

Action Items for Employers:

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

Our sexual harassment training sessions are available to help you protect your business. Please contact our Training Lead, Ellie Hand, at [email protected] for more details.

Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023

This act introduces a new right for workers to request more predictable terms and conditions, including the right to request a predictable working pattern.

Key Date: Received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023. Employers should familiarize themselves with this new right, likely to be implemented later this year.

Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023

This new legislation ensures employers allocate all “tips, gratuities, and service charges” fairly and transparently to workers. Businesses will no longer be able to keep tips from their staff; there must be fair allocation, accurate record-keeping, and written policies on how tips are allocated.

Key Date: Originally set to come into force on the 1st of July 2024, delayed to the 1st of October 2024. Employers should prepare for this change.

For more details, read our previous blog on The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.

General Election

With the General Election days away, another shake-up of employment rights is likely. Employers should monitor any rapid changes the new government may implement.

For more details, read our previous blog on Labour Manifesto: Impact on HR and Employment Rights or join our upcoming HR Exchange webinars to stay updated.

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