“2024 is set to be a busy year will plenty of legislative changes taking effect at various points throughout the year, with changes still being announced ! ” - Pam Molyneux

The Government has announced that it is backtracking on the proposed increase from Spring 2024 to the salary required for family visas, and that the proposed increase to £38,700 will not now take place. Instead, they plan to initially set it at £29,000.

From 1st January 2024:

Covid holiday carry-over ends – the emergency rules on annual leave which were implemented in 2020 meant that workers could carry over 4 weeks of leave into the next 2 leave years where it was not reasonably practicable for them to take it because of the effects of Covid.

From 1 January 2024, this will be removed, but for any employees who have any “Covid carry over leave” accrued by that date but have not taken it, have until 31 March 2024 to use it. Check out the ‘What’s New Wednesday’ next week for a template letter to give to employees who are affected by this.

Remaining rules on holiday carry-over continue – nothing actually changing here but as these rights derive from ECJ case law it has had to be added to our legislation to ensure that the status quo is maintained. There will continue, therefore, to be a right of carry-over in the following situations:

• Where a worker was unable to take holiday due to being on maternity leave or other family-friendly leave – can carry over 5.6 weeks to the following leave year

• Where a worker was unable to take holiday due to sickness – can carry over 4 weeks of leave for 18 months after the end of the leave year in which the leave was accrued

  Legislation will be updated from 1st January 2024 to state that for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024 employers can lawfully pro-rata holiday entitlement for part-year and irregular hours workers, and if they want to do so, can again use rolled-up holiday pay, but only for these types of workers. Remember that whilst the law will be updated in January, employers cannot actually make any changes until their next leave year starting on or after 1 April 2024.

From 16th January 2024, subject to parliamentary approval, the Immigration Health Surcharge is set to increase from £624 to £1,035.

From 22nd January 2024, if approved by parliament, the civil penalty when an employer is found to have employed foreign workers unlawfully, will increase:

• To £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach.

• To £60,000 for repeated breaches.

From 6th April 2024:

There will be a day-one right to request flexible working, along with some additional law reforms on flexible working that are outlined in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023. ACAS have created a draft Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working, on which Acas has been consulting can be found here.

It seeks to encourage a more positive approach to flexible working, through a new Foreword to the Code and an emphasis on fostering an environment in which requests are not rejected by default without open-minded consideration and meaningful dialogue.

Potentially coming in from 6th April 2024:

Under current rules, before offering redundancy to an employee on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists.

The new legislation will enable this redundancy protection to be extended so that it applies to pregnant women as well as new parents returning to work from a relevant form of leave. This will, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, help shield new parents and expectant mothers from workplace discrimination, offering them greater job security at an important time in their lives.

The aim is to extend the protections through an expanded period covering from when a employee tells their employer they are pregnant until 18 months after the birth.

The 18-month window will ensure that an employee returning from a year of maternity leave can receive six months’ additional redundancy protection. The 18-month window will also apply to adoption leave and shared parental leave.

For those taking shared parental leave who have not taken maternity or adoption leave, there is a six-week threshold of continuous leave that needs to be met for the requirements to apply for a period of time after shared parental leave has ended. Where the six-week threshold is not met, the requirements apply during shared parental leave.

While the details are unlikely to be changed, it is important to note that the above relates to draft regulations which have still to be formally adopted by Parliament.

The Carer’s Leave Act received royal assent on 24 May 2023 and requires secondary legislation to bring its provisions into force.

Under the Act, carer’s leave will be available to eligible employees from the first day of their employment. Staff will be able to take the leave flexibly to suit their caring responsibilities and will not need to provide evidence of how the leave is used or who it will be used for, ensuring, the Government said, a smoother process for both businesses and their employees.

Employees taking their carer’s leave entitlement will be subject to the same employment protections that are associated with other forms of family related leave, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) confirmed, meaning they will be protected from dismissal or any detriment as a result of having taken time off. They have the right to return to the job in which they were employed before taking a period of carer’s leave.

The one week of carer’s leave is to be taken within a 12 month rolling period with employees given the option to take the leave as half or full days, up to and including taking a block of a whole week of leave at once.

The process by which an employer can postpone a period of carer’s leave, where this would unduly disrupt the operation of their business, is explained. Employers must give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable and, following consultation with the employee, confirm a new date on which they can take the leave within a month of the original date(s) requested.

While the details are unlikely to be changed, it is important to note that the above relates to draft regulations which have still to be formally adopted by Parliament. It is expected that, when they are adopted, the Government will provide accompanying guidance.

So watch this space, we will keep you updated as things progress!

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss employment law updates further, please do get in touch - we love to help with all things people management related.