Employment Legislation Timetable 2024

by | May 3, 2024 | Blog, Breaking News | 0 comments

Current Employment Legislation Timetable 2024 and beyond

13 February 2024 Fines payable by employers who employ illegal workers increased. The fine for a first breach increased from £15,000 to £45,000 per illegal worker. For repeated breaches, the fine increased from £20,000 up to £60,000.
1 January 2024 The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 came into force, bringing changes to the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the TUPE regulations including:

  • case law requiring detailed records of working hours to be kept was overturned
  • accrual of leave carried over under emergency Covid-19 provisions where it was unreasonable to take it ceased. All leave carried over under these provisions must be taken by 31 March 2024.

Carryover of leave following sickness absence and statutory family-friendly leave was added to the Working Time Regulations.
1 January 2024 The Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force and amended the Equality Act 2010 to include eight principles derived from EU case law.
1 January 2024 The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REUL Act) removed the interpretive effects of retained EU law. This practically meant the sunset of directly effective EU rights, the principle of supremacy of EU law, and general principles of EU law, and ability of domestic courts to depart from retained EU case law.
1 April 2024 Changes to holiday rules

For holiday years beginning on or after 1st April 2024, holiday entitlement for part year and irregular hours workers can be calculated by taking 12.07% of the hours worked in the pay period.

Rolled up holiday will also be permissible from this date for part year and irregular hours workers only.

 

Note: if your holiday year is before April 2024, you will only be able to legally implement the changes in your next holiday year,
6 April 2024 The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2023/1328) come into force and amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 to remove the requirement for employees to have at least 26 weeks’ service to be entitled to make a flexible working request.

This makes the right to request flexible working a day one right.
6 April 2024 The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 will bring in the following changes to flexible working:

  • Employees can now make two (not one) flexible working requests in any 12 month period.
  • Requests have to be dealt with by employers within two (not three) months of receipt of a request if no extension is agreed.
  • Employers are not able to refuse a request until they have ‘consulted’ with the employee.
  • Employees will no longer, in their application, have to explain what effect the employee thinks agreeing to the request would have and how any such effect might be dealt with.
6 April 2024 The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 introduces a new statutory right to unpaid carer’s leave for employees in England, Wales and Scotland.
6 April 2024 The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 make significant changes to paternity leave, allowing it to be taken in the first 52 weeks after birth or adoption, and either as two separate weeks, one single week or two consecutive weeks together. This will apply to children whose expected week of childbirth is after 6 April 2024, and children whose expected date of placement for adoption, or expected date of entry into Great Britain for adoption, is on or after that date.

Redundancy Protection Changes

New rights for pregnant employees come into force, meaning that where an employee suffers a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy they will have protection during their pregnancy and for a 2 week period following miscarriage. If they miscarry after 24 weeks of pregnancy this is classed as a still birth, they. They are entitled to maternity leave and will have the same protection as any other employee taking maternity leave.

The current position The changes When does the change take effect?
 

 

Pregnancy

  

 

No protection

 Protected from the date the employee informs the employer of her pregnancy for the full period of pregnancy  

Where the employer is informed of the pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024
 

 

 

 

 

Maternity leave

  

 

 

Protected during the period of absence on maternity leave only

 Protected for 18 months from the first day of the estimated week of childbirth (EWC). The 18-month period can be altered to start from the child’s actual date of birth where the employee informs the employer in writing of the actual date during their maternity leave period.  

 

 

 

Where the maternity leave ends on or after 6 April 2024
 

 

Adoption leave

 Protected during the period of absence on adoption leave only Protected for the period of 18 months from the date of placement for adoption.  

Where the adoption leave ends on or after 6 April 2024
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shared parental leave

  

 

 

 

 

 

Protected during the period of absence on shared parental leave only.

 Protected for 18 months from birth/placement for adoption provided that the employee has taken a period of at least six continuous weeks of shared parental leave. This protection will not apply if the employee otherwise has protection under

either the maternity or adoption provisions above.

Protected during period of absence on shared parental leave only (as now) if fewer than six consecutive weeks of leave are taken.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Where the period of six continuous weeks of shared parental leave starts on or after 6 April 2024
1 July 2024 The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 bring in new rules permitting employers to consult directly with staff affected by TUPE, rather than electing representatives, will apply to businesses with 50 or fewer employees or transfers involving 10 or less employees.
September 2024 (expected) The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 and secondary regulations are expected to come into force approximately one year after Royal Assent, which was given on 8 September 2023.

The Act will give eligible workers and agency workers the right to request more predictable terms and conditions of work.
October 2024 (expected) The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act and relevant secondary legislation is expected to come into force, introducing a new proactive duty for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. Employers will be required to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.

Tribunals will also have the power to uplift sexual harassment compensation by up to 25% where an employer is found to have breached this new duty.
 To be confirmed The new statutory code on “fire and re-hire” will be formally approved by parliament.
 To be confirmed New law prohibiting confidentiality clauses in contracts or settlement agreements from preventing disclosures to the police, regulated health and care or legal professionals to be introduced. This will ensure that victims of sexual harassment and discrimination  are not paced in circumstances where they believe they cannot make such a disclosure because they have signed a confidentiality agreement.
 To be confirmed New law requiring confidentiality clauses to set out their limitations to be introduced. Clauses in employment contracts will legally need to set out clear and specific limitations in a written statement of particulars.
 To be confirmed New law to increase the break needed to end continuous employment from one week to four weeks to be introduced.
 To be confirmed Regulatory exemptions from requirements such as gender pay gap reporting will be extended to businesses with fewer than 500 employees; currently this applies to businesses with under 250 employees.
 To be confirmed GDPR will be replaced with a ‘common sense’ data protection system. Further details of the proposed new scheme is yet to be released.
To be confirmed A new law proposed by the government will limit the length of non-compete clauses to a maximum of three months.
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