Welcome to the June edition of the AdviserPlus newsletter.
In this month’s newsletter we are taking a closer look at the three new Acts giving further employment rights to parents and carers that received the Royal Assent at the end of May. The Acts are; The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill and the Carer’s Leave Act. We will be exploring what these key pieces of legislation mean for employers and employees. We will also take a look at the Government’s Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy which includes the Government’s plans to consult on changes to business record-keeping requirements and holiday calculations under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘WTR”), changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (“TUPE”) and new legislation to limit non-compete clauses to three months.
We are also raising awareness around Pride to support Pride Month which is running from 1st June to 30th June 2023.
Parents and carers to be given new protections
Two bills, the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill and the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill have both just gained Royal Assent. This means that pregnant women and new parents will see an extension of existing redundancy protections to now cover pregnancy from the moment it is first disclosed and to 18 months after birth. This is expected to be implemented in April 2024. Current legislation means that parents are only protected from redundancy whilst on maternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave.
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill is expected to be implemented no earlier than October 2023 and will allow parents whose new-born baby is admitted to neonatal care to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave providing that the child is under 28 days old and requires a hospital stay of over 7 continuous days. This payment will be in addition to other leave entitlements such as maternity and paternity leave.
The Carers’ Leave Act has also received Royal Assent. This means that carers could take up to 5 days of unpaid carers leave in a period of 12 months for employees who are providing or arranging care. This will be a statutory day-one right and is likely to be implemented in April 2024 however, the date is still to be confirmed.
To take the leave the person being cared for must have a long-term care need i.e they have a long-term illness or injury that requires care for 3 months or more, a disability as defined in the Equality Act 2010 or require care connected to their old age. The leave could be taken as a block of 5 days or in individual half or full days and can be self-certified in the same way as a person self-certifying their absence within the first 7 days would do.
Employees taking this leave to look after a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, someone living in the same household or a person who reasonably relies on the employee for care will have the same protection as they do for other family related leave.
Employers will need to monitor these developments and consider updating and amending policies and/or handbooks to reflect the new protections once in force.
Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy
The Government’s policy paper published a report on 10th May announcing a package of proposed employment law reforms. According to the Government the Working Time Regulations which are derived from retained EU legislation provides a number of valuable worker protections however, these regulations place disproportionate burdens on businesses, specifically in relation to recording working hours and other administrative requirements.
The proposals include:
- removing retained EU case law that impose time-consuming and disproportionate requirements on businesses for working hour records to be kept for almost all members of the workforce. This will cut red tape for businesses and help them save £1 billion per year while protecting the rights of workers.
- reducing the administrative burden and complexity of calculating holiday pay. The Government proposes to introduce rolled-up holiday pay, so that workers can receive their holiday pay with every payslip and merging the current two separate leave entitlements into one pot of statutory annual leave, while maintaining the same amount of statutory leave entitlement overall.
With regard to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations which protect employees when the business or organisation for which they work transfers to a new owner, currently businesses cannot consult with employees directly where they do not have employee representatives in place and therefore have to elect new employee representatives. The Government is consulting on removing this requirement where the business has fewer than 50 people and the transfer is going to affect less than 10 employees and therefore allow businesses to consult directly with the affected employees. The reforms intend to simplify the process whilst ensuring the workers’ rights continue to be protected.
Finally, there is the intention to reform non-compete clauses to boost competition and innovation. Non-compete clauses are included in employment contracts to restrict an individual’s ability to work for or establish a competing business after they have moved on from a job. The Government intends to limit the length of non-compete clauses to three months, providing employees with more flexibility to join a competitor or start up a rival business after they have left a position. This will give up to 5 million UK workers greater freedom to switch jobs, apply their skills elsewhere and even earn a pay rise.
The policy paper states that this legislation will be introduced ‘when Parliamentary time allows’. Full details of the paper can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smarter-regulation-to-grow-the-economy/smarter-regulation-to-grow-the-economy.
Pride Month
Pride Month is a vibrant and inclusive celebration honouring the LGBTQ+ community, their history, achievements, and ongoing struggle for equality. Pride month will take place from June 1st to June 30th and will include a wide range of events to celebrate diversity including parades and marches up and down the length and breadth of the UK. There will also be lots of opportunity to promote inclusivity and educate people about the importance of acceptance, diversity, and love.
https://www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk/awareness-day/pride-month/ provides some great ideas on how employers can commemorate Pride Month at work, including:
- Education and training: Diversity and inclusion should already be woven throughout all training and explicitly include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression awareness.
- Raise awareness and increase visibility: Pride Month is an excellent opportunity to run events that give your LGBTQ+ employers and their allies a chance to share their personal stories if they are willing.
- Attend a local Pride Month event and show your pride: In addition to attending a local Pride Month event employers could also consider introducing rainbow lanyards, pronouns on name badges, including LGBTQ+ literature in any reading corners or linking to well-known LGBTQ+ websites on your organisation’s intranet.
- Take action: Use this month to review your policies and ensure your organisation has a dedicated, robust Diversity, Equality and Inclusion policy that provides clear guidelines on how all staff – including your LGBTQ+ colleagues – are protected.
Some dates for your diaries.
- June – Pride Month
- 12th – 18th June 2023 Men’s Health Week
- 18th June 2023 – Autistic Pride Day & Father’s Day
- 19th – 25th June 2023 – Learning Disability Week
Note: The above guidance was correct at the time of writing this article on 06/06/23. This does not constitute legal advice and is for information purposes only.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this newsletter or would like more information to support your business with the changes, please get in touch.