2024 – Employment Law Round-Up!

What a whirlwind year we’ve had, from planned changes in legislation to a change in government – a government that has pledged up to 28 changes to employment law in the coming years; there’s never a dull moment in HR.

This Holla HR blog gives you the headlines and tells you all you need to know about what’s changed, and what’s coming next!

Holiday Pay

Following the case of Harpur Trust Vs Brazel (What Harpur Trust v Brazel means for holiday pay) the madness of this judgement finally concluded this year and the government have u-turned on their previous decision, meaning that workers who only work part-year can now have their holiday pay calculated as 12.07 percent of actual hours worked in a pay period, rather than 5.6 weeks comparable to their full-time counterparts. This change came into effect earlier this year but could only be applied to leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 (i.e. employers could not retrospectively apply the change).

Changes to Flexible Working Law

In April 2024 we saw changes to the Flexible Working Legislation meaning employees no longer require 26 weeks qualifying service to make a request to amend their working pattern; it is now a day-one right. As well as that, employees can make up to two requests per year (previously it was only 1 request in a 12-month period) and there is no longer an onus on the employee to demonstrate how the request could work in practice. Meaning there’s lots more required for employers to consider if they wish to refuse the requested changes.

Carer’s Leave

We also saw the introduction of The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 in April this year which entitles all employees to request up to one week (unpaid) per year to be taken for the purposes of caring for another person (or persons). It doesn’t have to be evidenced and can be taken in half-days (pro rata’d to the employee’s working week equivalent). It also doesn't have to be for the same person, caring responsibilities can be for a number of people, and they do not have to be related to the employee.

Tips Allocation

October saw the introduction of The Employment Allocation of Tips Act and accompanying Statutory Code (Distributing tips fairly: statutory code of practice - GOV.UK) which puts more onus on the employer to have fair and transparent ways of working when it comes to allocating tips. The code outlines the need for maintaining a written policy (including the methodology and principles for how tips are allocated and distributed), ensuring tips are received no later than the month following the month in which the tip was received, consultation with employees, and holding tips records for 3 years, in case of future dispute.

Worker Protection Act 2023 (Amendment to the Equality Act 2024)

This new legislation places a positive obligation and anticipatory duty on all employers to prevent (sexual) harassment taking place. The duty isn’t just on the employer to prevent this behaviour from their own staff, but third parties too. And they must have a robust policy in place which outlines how complaints can be made and includes examples of harassment. In addition, risk assessments should be undertaken in consultation with employees and regular training and updates should be provided. All in time for the festive party season! Oh, and The European Human Rights Commission (EHRC) can also impose a 25% uplift to any compensation. Read the Holla HR Blog here for more on this one.

Phew, that’s a LOT! So what’s to come?

Well the pending Employment Rights Bill which has been dubbed “the greatest shift in employment legislation in decades” was published on 10th October 2024 - although we know elements won’t start to come into effect until at least 16 months down the line.

The legislation is proposed to remove the two-year qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal, as well as introducing day-one rights to paternity leave, parental leave, bereavement leave and statutory sick pay. Controversially, it also proposes to make flexible working the ‘default’ from day one for all workers, unless an employer can prove it is unreasonable.

The bill also aims to “end one-sided flexibility” by giving workers on zero-hours or low-hours contracts, the right to guaranteed working hours if they work regular hours over a defined period (previously proposed to be 12 weeks). There is also the potential to ban ‘Fire and Rehire’ practices, unless in exceptional circumstances.

With all that in the pipeline, we’re expecting 2025 to be another rollercoaster year in the world of business and HR.

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