Future Employment Law Changes
There are a number of UK employment law changes in the pipeline.
These will impact upon the following policies:
- Flexible Working (Employee Relations (Flexible Working) Bill
- Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act
- The Carer’s Leave Act 2023
- Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act
Timeline on introduction (based on CIPD resource)
- All is dependent on government and HMRC confirmation
Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3198
A date for implementation of this Act is awaited. It will lead to Flexible Working policy and procedure changes. The right to request from day one of employment is currently not included but this may be added through an additional piece of law. So, employees legally still require 26 weeks service with an employer to make a formal flexible working request, however we know many employers are open to requests during recruitment stages already.
Changes
- An employee can make 2 flexible working requests in any 12-month period (rather than one).
- The employer must respond to the request within 2 months of receipt, rather than 3 months as now.
- Employees will no longer have to explain the impact that granting the request would have on their role and how that might be dealt with.
- Managers cannot refuse a request without having consulted with the staff member.
ACAS are currently consulting on the update of their statutory code of practice on Flexible Working request management. Acas consultation on the draft Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working | Acas
July 2023 potentially Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act
This act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023 but a date for implementation is awaited and it is looking to be later than July 2023 now. It extends existing redundancy protections whilst on maternity leave, adoption leave or Shared Parental Leave, to also cover pregnancy and a period of time after maternity leave has ended. The exact duration will be set out in secondary legislation.
April 2024 potentially The Carer’s Leave Act
This act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023. This creates a new statutory unpaid leave entitlement for unpaid carers of a dependant with a long-term care need. Employees (not workers) will have a day one right to take up to five working days of unpaid leave a year.
April 2025 Potentially – The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act
This act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023. The act will allow up to 12 weeks paid leave for parents with a baby admitted to neonatal care (28 days old or less). This is in addition to standard maternity and paternity leave entitlements.
Our current clients will automatically receive an updated policy to reflect these changes as they happen.
If you would like support with your policies and procedures, our MCIPD qualified HR consultants, Kate and Nicola are here to help.
We offer one-off consultancy support or you can retain our experienced and professional consultants for a minimum of 3 hours per year and ‘top- up’ hours if the need arises. If you would like to find out more, please email us hr@cbrsolutions.org.uk or find out more here.
