What are the new changes to employment law that come into force today? Lawyers explains

There have been several significant changes made to the employment law on Saturday, which employers (and employees) must be aware of to ensure they can navigate them effectively. City lawyers speak to City A.M. to explain what they are, and how they will work.

From 6 April, changes include the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, new protections for pregnant employees from redundancy, and new entitlements for carers to take unpaid leave.

Lindsey Cartwright, partner at Morton Fraser MacRoberts warned that “it is absolutely key that managers are trained, to raise awareness of the new rights, and how they should be dealt with”.

She noted that any “mishandling could potentially result in a claim being made to an Employment Tribunal, and if this can be shown to be discrimination, then there is no upper limit on the level of award that can be made.”

Flexible working

The right to request flexible working will become a “day one” right, which removes the previous requirement for employees to have at least 26 weeks’ service to make a flexible working request.

Holly Navarro, employment solicitor at Primas Law explains that “employers should remember that this is a right to request flexible working, not a right to have, and the way in which businesses should look and consider any requests is likely to be the same as before.”

However, she noted that employees will also be entitled to make two flexible working requests in any 12-month period and they will no longer be required to set out what the effect of their flexible working request may be and how this could be dealt with by their employer.

Employers are also expected to deliver a decision on a request within two months, down from three months.

Navarro urged that “when handling a request, employers should meet with the individual to allow for a reasonable discussion and consideration of the same, and if the original request cannot be accepted in full, consideration should be given to alternative arrangements.”

Redundancy protection during pregnancy

Emily Morrison, solicitor at SA Law explained that “employees who are pregnant or returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave will gain priority status for redeployment opportunities in a redundancy situation.”

She explained that “under the new rules, the additional protected period begins when an expectant mother informs their employer of their pregnancy and ends 18 months after birth/placement, if they tell their employer the birth date before their maternity leave ends.”

Cartwright suggested that companies should be “reviewing their current policies on maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave rights.”

Navarro added that “employees on paternity leave do not receive additional protection.”

She also explained that there is currently no guidance or legal authority in place where there are more employees with priority status than there are suitable alternative roles. Navarro stated that “it is likely that employers will need to undertake a further selection process between the employees with priority status.”

Carer’s leave

From Saturday (today) there will be a new right for employees with a caring responsibility for a dependant. As Jessica Bass, a partner at Oury Clark explained, “employees will also be entitled to statutory carer’s leave, which offers vital support to caregivers.”

Bass did add that this new law will be limited to one week of unpaid leave per year.

However, this is a “day one” employment right and dependants are not just close family such as spouse or child, but also anyone who reasonably relies on the employee for care.

She stated that “employers should consider enhanced policies if this is top of their agenda for retention and recruitment.”

Holiday Pay

Navarro explained the law to “simplify annual leave and holiday pay calculations” did come into effect from the 1st January 2024, however, it only apply to holiday years starting on or after the 1st April 2024.

She explained that when companies are calculating holiday pay, she says all ‘normal remuneration’ should be included.

She explained “that ‘normal remuneration’ was defined to include payments which are intrinsically linked to the role a worker is contractually obliged to do, such as commission, as well as other payments like regular overtime payments.”

While for “part-year employees and those working irregular hours, holiday pay calculations will also be simplified by making rolled-up holiday pay lawful again. This means that the holiday will accrue at 12.06 per cent of hours worked each pay period, capped at 28 days.”

To re-highlight, a lot of these changes come into force on Saturday 6 April 2014.

All of the lawyers that spoke to City A.M. stated that companies should be updating their internal policies and procedure to reflect the new employment laws.

Bass added that “comprehensive training for HR, managers, and decision-makers is crucial to navigate changes effectively and to be alive to the greater protections from unlawful detriment or dismissal for employee’s seeking to exercise these rights.”

She added that “non-compliance not only risks Tribunal claims for breaching statutory rights but also invites discrimination claims, posing significant financial and reputational risks.”