Employment Law changes from Monday 6th April 2020

Many businesses are delighted that the IR35 reforms have been delayed 12 months, but in the meantime, there are a number of legislation changes to be aware of, designed to give greater protection to employees and workers.

There is so much happening in the world right now that the usual April employment law changes have probably dropped to the bottom of your list.

Not only that, but in the past four weeks we have been hit with furloughs, self-isolating sick pay and all manner of HR questions never faced before.

Here is a summary of those areas you need to know about to keep you on the right side of the law.

1. Written statements of terms and conditions

Significant changes to the rules on written statements of terms and conditions of employment take effect in relation to individuals starting work with an employer on or after 6 April 2020.
The requirement to provide a written statement of terms and conditions will extend to workers, not just employees. This includes casual and zero hours workers.

The current requirement for employees to have one month of continuous service to qualify for the right to a written statement will be repealed. This right will become a day-one right for employees and workers, who will have the right to receive most of the information about their employment terms in a single document no later than when they start work.

For those employers who currently send out their written statements with their offers of employment, prior to the proposed start date, this will not make a lot of difference provided their statements comply with the new requirements; for others, who perhaps have less resource or longer processes in place for raising, authorising and producing terms and conditions paperwork, this may prove challenging.

There are changes to the information that the written statement must include and, those starting on or after 6 April 2020 need to be provided with compliant written statements on or before their first working day.

2. New right to parental bereavement leave and pay

Bereaved parents of a child who dies on or after 6 April 2020 have a new right to take up to two weeks’ parental bereavement leave with pay at a statutory minimum rate.

The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 (also referred to as “Jack’s Law”) provides for at least two weeks’ leave for employees following the loss of a child under the age of 18 or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service will be entitled to two weeks of paid leave at the statutory rate and other employees will be entitled to unpaid leave.

3. Adjustments to holiday pay calculations for workers with irregular hours

The holiday pay reference period for workers without normal working hours increases from 12 weeks to 52 weeks.

You will need to adjust how you calculate holiday pay for workers with irregular hours, for example those in seasonal or atypical roles. Your holiday policy may also require adjusting if it refers to the holiday pay reference period.

4. Qualifying agency workers to receive equal pay

The ability for employers to pay agency workers less than their own workers in certain circumstances, also known as the “Swedish derogation”, is abolished.

Under the derogation, agency workers could previously exchange their right to be paid the same as directly recruited employees for a contract guaranteeing pay between assignments.

Following the abolition of the derogation, you must ensure that agency workers who have completed the 12-week qualifying period are paid equally to other staff.

5. Round up of Increases to Statutory payments

The weekly rate of Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay increases to £151.20 from Sunday 5 April 2020.

The weekly rate of SSP increases to £95.85 from 6 April 2020.

Dismissals for redundancy of employees with at least two years’ service qualify for a statutory amount, based on their length of service, age and weekly pay subject to a maximum amount; from 6 April 2020 this amount is £538.

Compensation for unfair dismissals that take place on or after 6 April 2020 rises to a maximum of £88,519.

6. Changes to Minimum Wage rates that came into effect on 1 April 2020:

The National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and over increases to £8.72 per hour.

The National Minimum Wage hourly rate increases:

• 21 to 24 year olds £8.20
• 18 to 20 year olds £6.45
• 16 or 17 year olds £4.55
• Apprentices £4.15

Legislation delayed due to the Coronavirus outbreak

1. Gender pay gap reporting

Most businesses with 250 or more employees would no doubt have been in the process of finalising their gender pay gap reports ready for their reporting requirements on 4 April 2020.

The government announced last month it was suspending enforcement of the gender pay gap reporting requirementsthis year due to COVID – 19.

As most employers should have their data ready by now, they are being urged to publish their reports when the coronavirus outbreak has passed by uploading their GPG results to the Government reporting website.

2. IR35

The government has confirmed that the extension of the IR35 tax rules to private-sector employers will be delayed until 6 April 2021

If you need any help working your way through what any of this means please drop us an email or give us a call on 0808 164 5826.