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Understanding the April 2024 Employment Law Changes

Apr 5, 2024

Solicitor, Employment Law

April 2024 saw the introduction of some significant changes to what are often referred to as family-friendly employment rights, as well as the introduction of a new right to request leave for carers.

For employees, these changes deliver new legally protected rights and allowances that will help them enjoy greater flexibility in their working hours and career planning. For employers, the legal change creates new responsibilities that will need to be delivered upon to stay legally compliant.

In this blog post, Walker Foster’s employment law solicitor Claire Collinge recaps the key changes that were introduced on April 6th 2024, and highlights the actions that employers will need to take in response.

Flexible working

Flexible working has become an increasingly central aspect of working arrangements in recent years. The latest legal changes are designed to reflect this:

  • The right to make a flexible working request (changes in hours worked, or when and where the employee works) is now an employment right from day one, rather than requiring the employee to have six months’ service.
  • Two requests can now be made in any 12-month period, rather than only one request per year.
  • When making a request, the employee no longer needs to explain the potential impact on the business and provide suggestions on how it can be dealt with.
  • The employer must consult with the employee if it is minded not to accept the request.
  • Employers must deal with the request within two months, including any appeal, rather than three months of the request.

What must employers do?

Flexible working policies must be amended to reflect these new changes. If your organisation has no policy in place currently, consider the benefit of having one, as it will help ensure all requests are dealt with in the appropriate way and minimise the risk of legal claims arising. Flexible working remains popular and valued by employees, so a clear policy will also demonstrate your commitment to consider requests in the right way, and to attract and retain the right employees.

If you are considering turning down a request, seek legal advice to help keep legal risks low, including the risk of an indirect sex discrimination claim.

Flexible working

Flexible working has become an increasingly central aspect of working arrangements in recent years. The latest legal changes are designed to reflect this:

  • The right to make a flexible working request (changes in hours worked, or when and where the employee works) is now an employment right from day one, rather than requiring the employee to have six months’ service.
  • Two requests can now be made in any 12-month period, rather than only one request per year.
  • When making a request, the employee no longer needs to explain the potential impact on the business and provide suggestions on how it can be dealt with.
  • The employer must consult with the employee if it is minded not to accept the request.
  • Employers must deal with the request within two months, including any appeal, rather than three months of the request.

What must employers do?

Flexible working policies must be amended to reflect these new changes. If your organisation has no policy in place currently, consider the benefit of having one, as it will help ensure all requests are dealt with in the appropriate way and minimise the risk of legal claims arising. Flexible working remains popular and valued by employees, so a clear policy will also demonstrate your commitment to consider requests in the right way, and to attract and retain the right employees.

If you are considering turning down a request, seek legal advice to help keep legal risks low, including the risk of an indirect sex discrimination claim.

Paternity leave

The rules surrounding paternity leave have been updated to provide new parents and families with greater flexibility about how they make use of this allowance:

  • The two-week statutory paternity leave entitlement can now be divided into two separate blocks of one week, taken at different times. Previously, it could only be taken as two consecutive weeks, or as a single week.
  • It can now be taken at any time within the 52 weeks following the birth, rather than only in the eight weeks directly after the birth.
  • The new notice requirement for taking paternity leave is 28 days’ notice, replacing the previous requirement to give notice 15 weeks before the expected week of birth.

What must employers do?

Paternity leave policies need to be amended to reflect the new rules, and staff should be made aware that these options are available to them.

Carer’s leave

The April 2024 changes to employment law also included new provisions for employees to take leave to give care for a dependant who requires long-term care:

  • Eligible employees now have the right to take carer’s leave from day one of employment.
  • The amount of leave available is up to one week in any 12-month rolling period, which can be taken as full days or half-days, consecutive or not.
  • The right is to unpaid leave only. Any employee is eligible if they have a dependant with a long-term care need, and they wish to take leave in order to provide or arrange care for them.
  • The right to one week’s leave applies per employee, not per dependant, so an employee is only eligible for one week even if they are caring for two or more dependants.
  • The length of one week is based on the employee’s usual working week. If they work a set number of days per week, that is the length of the annual entitlement. If they work irregular hours, or for part of the year only, the entitlement is based on their average hours per week, calculated over the preceding 12-month period.
  • An employee who wishes to take carer’s leave must comply with the notice requirements. In general, these require twice as much notice as the period of leave requested, so one day’s leave would require two days’ notice.
  • The employer cannot refuse a request for carer’s leave, providing the employee is entitled, but can postpone the leave and ask the employee to take it at a different time. Any postponement must be on the basis that the operation of the business would be unduly disrupted if the leave was taken on the date(s) requested, and must follow the statutory procedure for postponement.
  • Although the employee is required to provide some information when requesting the leave, the employer may not require the employee to provide evidence of their entitlement, such as the health of the dependant or the activities they will be undertaking.
  • A tribunal claim may arise if the employer unreasonably postpones a period of carer’s leave, or attempts to prevent the employee from taking carer’s leave.

Detriment and/or automatic unfair dismissal claims may arise if the employee is subjected to a detriment by the employer because they have taken or sought to take carer’s leave, or the employer believes they are likely to do so or the reason or principal reason for any dismissal is that the employee took or sought to take carer’s leave. Similarly, a claim of automatic unfair dismissal may arise if, in a redundancy situation, the employee was selected because they took or sought to take carer’s leave or the employer believed they were likely to do so.

What must employers do?

Consider the benefit of a policy to ensure that employees and managers are made aware of the new right, understand who is eligible and the process to be followed in every case. Employers may also consider whether they wish to provide paid time off for the week’s carer’s leave, even though the statutory right is unpaid.

This process can be made easier by introducing a form of declaration for employees to sign when they provide notice of their request for leave, confirming that they are entitled to take it, the number of days and when they wish to take it and that they will be taking the time in order to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. Should it transpire that the employee has misrepresented the situation, is not eligible for carer’s leave or has not used the leave for that purpose, the declaration will make it easier to address the situation through the disciplinary procedure.

Find out more

If your organisation needs assistance navigating these new employment law changes, Walker Foster Solicitors is here to help. We can provide expert guidance, draft tailored policies, and support you in ensuring compliance with the latest legal requirements.
Speak to our employment law team today to discuss how we can assist you in making these transitions smoothly and effectively. To get in touch, please complete our contact form.

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