What are the latest employment law developments to be aware of this April?

Spring is a time for change and that includes employment law changes too! A quick reminder of some of the developments to be aware of this April:

1. For holiday years that start on or after 1st April 2024, new regulations now allow for holiday entitlements for ‘part-year’ workers and those with ‘irregular hours’ to be calculated using an accrual method based on 12.07% of hours worked in the previous pay period. It will also be lawful to make rolled-up holiday payments for such workers provided they meet the relevant definitions.
   There are also other recently introduced holiday pay changes to be aware of which make it clear holidays have to be carried over in certain circumstances and that ‘normal’ pay has to be paid for at least 20 days holiday entitlement per leave year rather than ‘basic’ pay. ‘Regular’ payments such as overtime, commission, bonuses etc. may therefore need to be taken into account when calculating holiday pay. Employment contracts should be reviewed to reflect these changes.

2. From 6th April employees will have the right to make a flexible working request from ‘day one’ of employment. Two requests can also now be made in any 12-month period and employers have to make decisions within 2 months of receiving a request following consultation with the employee. Read Sarah Hall’s recent article about the changes. It will be crucial for employers to update flexible working policies to reflect these changes.

3. New regulations provide a statutory entitlement to unpaid carer’s leave for employees. This shall also be a ‘day one’ right and will allow employees to take up to one week of unpaid leave in any rolling 12-month period in order to provide or arrange care for a dependant. Leave can be taken in full or half-days or in a block of one week and employees must give notice of their intention to take carer’s leave. We recommend employers put a specific carer’s leave policy in place to outline the entitlement and relevant procedures.

4. The way in which fathers or partners can take paternity leave will also change for any children born or placed for adoption after 6th April. Qualifying employees will be able to take paternity leave in either two separate one-week blocks or as a consecutive two-week block and such leave can now be taken any time within the first 12 months of birth/adoption. Again, paternity leave and adoption policies should be updated accordingly.

5. As usual, there will also be increases to the National Minimum Wage from 6th April (£11.44 per hour for those aged 21 and over) as well as increases to the rate of SSP (£116.75 p/w) and to the limit on weekly pay for the purpose of calculating statutory redundancy pay (£700 p/w).

The employment team at Hay & Kilner are on hand to help navigate these changes. Please contact Sarah Hall, Sarah Furness or Tom Clarke if we can assist in updating relevant policies and procedures.