Employment Law Updates
7 Important areas with Employment Law updates
There are several Bills and consultations currently being debated publicly or in Parliament and the House of Lords. They have not yet been agreed and some may take a while before they are finalised, however, it gives an indication of what might change in the future. This also allows employers to think about whether they would want to adopt any of these suggestions voluntarily into their policies.
We thought we’d summarise seven areas with important employment law updates that could affect your company this year.
Employment Law Bills and Consultations
The following Bills and consultations are under review:
1. Flexible Working
Currently being read in the House of Commons, this Bill proposes that employees have a right to flexible working from day one of their employment. At the moment, employees must have 26 weeks’ continuous service to be eligible for a flexible working request. Employers would still be able to refuse a flexible working request for business reasons. The current 3-month response time for such requests may decrease to 2 months.
2. Carer’s Leave
There are many reasons why people become carers for their partner, child, parent or another dependent person. This could be due to an injury, illness, age or a disability. The Carer’s Leave Bill is currently in the House of Lords and aims to offer one week of unpaid leave per year. Employees who are carers would be eligible from day one of their employment. The Bill would protect against dismissal caused by caring responsibilities.
3. Pregnancy and Family Leave
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill is currently in the House of Lords. Its aim is to provide extended protection to women while they’re pregnant and afterwards in relation to maternity, shared parental leave and adoption leave.
4. Transferring EU Law into UK law
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is currently in the House of Lords. This Bill would give Parliament the power to reinstate, replace, revoke or update specific EU law into UK law. The deadline for retaining EU laws and transferring into UK law is 31 December 2023, but this could be extended to 23 June 2026. This new proposed time frame would mark the 10-year anniversary of Brexit.
5. Fertility, Miscarriage and Neonatal Care
There are three Bills being proposed within these areas:
Fertility Treatment (Employment Rights) Bill - Currently being read in the House of Commons, the aim of this Bill is to treat people on fertility treatment in the same way as those who are pregnant. This Bill would “require employers to allow employees to take time off from work for appointments for fertility treatment; and for connected purposes.” (UK Parliament)
Miscarriage Leave Bill - Also being read in the House of Commons is a Bill offering 3 days’ paid bereavement leave to those who have suffered a miscarriage. At present, maternity/paternity leave and pay only applies to a pregnancy loss of 24 weeks. This Bill is expected to support a large number of employees and will have a big impact.
Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill – Currently at the Committee stage in the House of Lords, this Bill would offer new rights to parents for paid time off if their baby needed neonatal care. This would include statutory neonatal care pay and neonatal care leave. Employees would be eligible for statutory neonatal care pay after 26 weeks of continuous service. Neonatal care leave would be available from day one of employment, and when a baby needs at least one week of neonatal care.
6. Calculating holiday pay
Zero-contract hours are back under the spotlight. The government has recently launched a public consultation to decide how holiday should be calculated for employees contracted for irregular working hours. This follows the Harpur decision in July 2022 involving UNISON. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that holiday pay for a part-year worker should be compared and aligned to part-time workers’ holiday pay.
7. New “fire and rehire” statutory code
Following the publication of Acas guidance back in 2021, the practice of “fire and rehire” has become a hot topic. This relates to terms and conditions of employment being changed by way of dismissal and re-engagement when it’s impossible to gain consent (by employees or trade unions).
The Government has drafted a new Code of Practice that urges employers to only change employee terms and conditions as “a last resort”. Consultation for employers to have their say on this new statutory code ended mid-April and we are currently waiting for a date to be announced for the code to come into force.
For updates on any of the above Bills, please visit: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/
We’re excited about some of these Bills and consultations, as they propose more inclusive and fairer provisions for employees. If you’re an employer, it’s important to keep up to date with any changes to employment law. This will help you stay compliant with any changing legislation so you can avoid any employee issues. We advise spending some time checking your policies and procedures to ensure they reflect current employment law.
Are you worried about how the above employment law updates will impact your business? If so, please talk to us! Invictus HR provides retained HR services and support for ad hoc or strategic HR projects. We also offer mentoring, training and development for managers. Our HR team has the expertise and experience to advise you on a wide range of matters, including key policies and procedures.
If you would like to discuss any points mentioned in this article or you need HR advice on another matter, please get in touch.
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