REWARD
What employment- related legislative changes are happening in the new tax year?
Paul Chamberlain, head of employment law, JMW Solicitors LLP discusses some important employment law updates for payroll professionals to keep on their radars, due to the potential impacts on the work they carry out every day
T he rate at which employment probably because of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act. In short, the government has been reviewing what UK legislation originally derived from EU law and has subsequently been taking steps to retain some of it, while new and improved entitlements and rules are also enacted. There’s also a desire to review two significant pieces of employment legislation – the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010 – and to ‘fill in the gaps’ where greater protections to workers could be afforded. Looking ahead to future legislation, which legislation is introduced has increased significantly since early 2023. This is is due to come into force in or around April 2024, the main provisions can be summarised as follows.
Currently, employees need 26 weeks of continuous employment to make a formal flexible working request, however, there have been calls for this to be a day one right, i.e. to remove the requirement of 26 weeks’ continuous service. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023, reformed some aspects of the statutory regime, however failed to touch upon the potential of a day one right. “The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were put before Parliament on 11 December 2023, and will afford such a day one right to all employees by amending the 2023 Act”
and will afford such a day one right to all employees by amending the 2023 Act. The Act will further be amended to afford employees the right to make two requests in any 12-month period. Currently, employees only have the right to make one request in every 12-month period. Considering the above, hiring managers should have open conversations with potential job candidates before the start date of their employment relating to why their role is or isn’t suitable for flexible working. It’s also important to note that this isn’t the right to be afforded flexible working but a right to request flexible working from day one of employment. Employers can still reject applications if they follow the guidelines for refusal and ensure they aren’t putting vulnerable employees at further detriment by refusing their applications.
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 There have been public campaigns for the last few years, even prior to the pandemic and the emerging options in terms of remote and flexible work, to reform the flexible working regime.
The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 These regulations will set out how a carer’s leave entitlement will work, based on the passing of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, and will come into force on 6 April 2024. This is covered in further detail in
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were put before Parliament on 11 December 2023,
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | March 2024 | Issue 98 44
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