Employment Law is set to undergo a number of important changes in April. Increases to Minimum Wage Rates took effect from 1st April, and further changes – such as to flexible working requests and redundancy – are still on the horizon.
We’ve outlined some of the main changes you can expect to see below:
Increase in Minimum Wage
The National Living and Minimum Wage rates saw an increase on 1st April. These rates provide employees with a statutory employment right to a wage not lower than that set by the Government.
The Government has changed the categories to lower the age for the National Living Wage from 23 to 21 and over, and has subsequently removed the bracket for people aged 21 to 22.
As of 1 April 2024, the new rates are now as follows:
- National Living Wage – increase from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour
- 18 – 20 year olds – increase from £7.49 to £8.60 an hour
- 16 – 17 year olds – increase from £5.28 to £6.40 an hour
- Apprentices – increase from £5.28 to £6.40 an hour
Flexible Working Requests
The current legislation only allows employees to make one flexible working request a year, and the employee must have worked for that employer for at least 26 weeks before making the request. However, from 6th April, the Government have announced that a flexible working request will become a day one right for employees, and that they will be able to make two requests in a year.
Changes to Holiday Entitlement and Holiday Pay
Within the consultation response for Retained EU employment law reforms, the Government has suggested amendments to the calculation of holiday entitlement and holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (“WTR”).
Under the WTR, workers are entitled to a total of 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year. This is split into two categories:
- Regulation 13 of WTR allows a worker the right to 4 weeks paid annual leave.
- Regulation 13A of WTR provides an addition 1.6 weeks paid annual leave under domestic legislation.
Despite considerations to merge the two entitlements, the Government has decided to retain two distinct entitlements which are paid at different rates. Workers will receive 4 weeks holiday pay at their “normal” rate of pay, and the additional 1.6 weeks will be calculated at a rate of a basic week’s pay.
The WTR will be amended to include an accrual method to calculate holiday entitlement for irregular workers and part-year workers. Under the new legislation, employers will base the holiday entitlement on 12.07% of the hours worked in a pay period. Workers will receive their holiday pay at the time the work is carried out, as opposed to when the worker’s holiday is taken.
Redundancy
There is a limit on a week’s pay used when calculating a statutory redundancy payment, and the current limit is £643 per week. However, from 6th April we will see this figure increase to £700 per week. The overall maximum statutory redundancy payment from 6th April 2024 will be £21,000.
There are further changes set to be introduced in April in connection with different elements of redundancy, such as protections relating to pregnancy and maternity. At present, employees who are on maternity leave have heightened rights and protection against redundancy. From April, employees who are pregnant will be given those rights. Therefore, there will be an obligation on employers to consider pregnant employees for suitable alternative employment before other employees.
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 brings in further protection in relation to maternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about how these changes may affect you or your business, don’t hesitate to call our Employment Law Team on 01743 248545. You can also get in touch by sending an email to mail@hatchers.co.uk.
