Updates to Employment Law: How To Stay Compliant
Employment law is legislation that regulates the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. It is essential to know your employees’ rights and entitlements to ensure you stay compliant with your legal obligations as an employer.
From the tax year commencing 6th April 2024, several changes to employment law have taken effect across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In this article, ClouDoc outlines the updates you need to be aware of to help your business prepare.
Changes to Pay Rates
National Minimum Wage and Real Living Wage
The national minimum wage is the minimum hourly wage that employers must pay their workers. Most workers are entitled to this wage, with the only exceptions being those who are self-employed, interns, volunteers, or those on work experience/shadowing placements.
In the 2024/2025 tax year, the minimum wage has risen from £10.42 to £11.44 for workers over the age of 23 and from £7.49 to £8.60 for workers aged between 21-22. For employees that are under the age of 18, including apprentices, the minimum wage rose from £5.28 to £6.40.
Changes have also been made to the Real Living Wage. While this is not compulsory for employers, it is the only wage rate that is based on the current cost of living. For workers aged 25 and over, this has increased by around 9%: from £10.90 to £12.00. The living wage for workers who are aged 25 and over and who are based in London has increased from £11.95 to £13.15.
So, what should employers be doing in response to these changes?
Violations of minimum wage rates can result in heavy fines, so we advise starting your payroll management as soon as possible. Start with a pay review to ensure you are already paying your employees the minimum requirements.
You also want to minimise the impact of an increase in payroll expenses on your business. For example, budget changes, such as cutting operation costs or increasing the cost of services, may be necessary. Conducting a review of your business will give you a clearer idea of any changes you might need to make.
Statutory Sick Pay
Employers must pay any workers statutory sick pay (SSP) who:
- Are classed as an employee and have done at least one shift for an employer.
- Are earning at least the Lower Earnings Limit per week.
- Have been off sick for 4 consecutive days.
Workers do not qualify for statutory sick pay if:
- They have already received the maximum amount of SSP (28 weeks).
- They are getting statutory maternity pay.
The rates of statutory sick pay have increased from £109.40 per week to £116.75 per week. For those earning less than the lower earnings limit, sick pay will remain at £123 per week.
Support your workers to understand their new rights and financial entitlements to help build a strong relationship with your employees and uphold your reputation as a fair employer.
Check your updated sick pay policies on ClouDoc for more information and to ensure that any edits you have made are in line with the new legislation.
Family Friendly Payments and Entitlements
Both statutory maternity pay and adoption pay increased in April 2024.
For the first 6 weeks of maternity or adoption leave, workers are still entitled to 90% of their normal pay rate. For the remaining 33 weeks, they are entitled to either 90% of their normal weekly earnings, or the statutory rate, whichever is lower; the statutory rate has now increased from £172.48 to £184.03 per week for both maternity and adoption pay.
In England, Scotland and Wales, employees’ paternity entitlements have also changed. Workers are now entitled to split their 2 weeks paternity leave more flexibly. For example, by taking their leave any time in the first year after their child’s birth. Or, by taking the 2 weeks separately.
Workers now only need to give just 28 days notice before taking their paternity leave, rather than 15 weeks. This is so long as they have made their employer aware of their entitlement at least 15 weeks prior to their child’s due date.
In Northern Ireland, paternity entitlements remain unchanged.
To help you stay compliant, ClouDoc has updated its paternity policies to include employee’s new entitlements. We advise businesses to review their own policies to ensure they have made any necessary updates.
Carer's Leave
The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 came into effect on 6th April 2024 in England, Scotland and Wales. It requires employers to make provisions for any employee that is classed as a carer to take at least 1 week of unpaid leave per year.
An employee is a carer if they have a dependent with a long-term care need.
A person is a dependent of an employee if:
- They are a spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the employee.
- They live in the same household as the employee (excluding situations in which they are a boarder, lodger, employee or tenant).
- They reasonably rely on the employee to provide care and support.
A long-term care need can be one of the following:
- An illness or injury for which care is expected to last more than 3 months.
- A disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010.
- Old age, which affects physical or mental health.
We advise employers to ensure they understand who classifies as an unpaid carer and why to help make sure you fully comply with the reform.
Check out your Absence Leave policy on ClouDoc to see how we have implemented these changes.
Flexible Working Requests
In line with the Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023, employees are now able to make 2 requests per year for flexible working rather than 1, starting from their first day of employment. This may include requests to work part-time, term-time or from home.
At ClouDoc, we have updated all of your flexible working policies to reflect this.
To ensure compliance with this act, employers must be prepared to do the following:
- Explain the reasons behind any denials to a request.
- Respond to requests within 2 months, rather than 3 months as before.
- Consider ways to accommodate such requests where possible.
Protection From Redundancy
As of April 6th, 2024, employees taking maternity, adoption or shared parental leave now have redundancy protection for a minimum of 18 months; this can begin as early as the day on which an employer is notified of the pregnancy until 18 months after the birth of the child.
This act does not protect an employee from being made redundant altogether. An employer’s responsibility is simply to ensure that workers with redundancy protection are given priority for any alternative vacancies.
In the event that there are more protected employees than suitable vacancies, employers are permitted to select based on skill set, experience or suitability. We advise employers to:
- Consider any planned redundancies to ensure they do not violate this reform.
- Be prepared to look for alternative vacancies for protected employees if redundancy is being considered.
- Ensure that meetings are arranged with any protected employees who are selected for redundancy to explain the reasons for this decision.
You will find your redundancy policies on ClouDoc fully updated to reflect this change. It is essential that employers review their own policies to make sure they are still compliant.
Upcoming Changes
Employment law can seem like a challenge to stay on top of, but ClouDoc is committed to helping you stay informed.
The UK government has more reforms planned in employment law for later in the year. These will apply to England, Scotland and Wales, and include:
- A new code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement.
- Legislation that gives employees the right to request more predictable working patterns.
- A requirement for employers to take active steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
The sooner you start preparing your business for these changes, the easier it will be to make provisions and remain compliant.
The ClouDoc team is keeping track of any updates and is happy to answer any document related queries.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us on 0330 808 0050 or email support@cloudoc.co.uk.
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