Employment Law Changes 2020

This April sees a number of significant employment law changes. To help you keep up-to-date and ensure you are prepared for the changes we have outlined some of the key changes below.

Parental Bereavement Leave

The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 will come into effect this April. It is often commonly referred to as “Jack’s Law”, after Jack Herd whose mother campaigned for statutory leave following the death of her son.

Under the Act, employees who lose a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from the 24th week of pregnancy will be entitled to two weeks leave. This will be a right from day one of their employment.

Employment Contracts a Day 1 Right

Currently an employer must give all employees a written statement of their terms of employment within two months of starting employment. From April the written statement must be given on the first day of employment. Additionally, the right to a written statement has been extended to workers as well as employees. Employers will need to be sure that they have processes in place to ensure they can meet this deadline.

Holiday Pay Changes for Variable Workers

Currently, the holiday pay reference period is 12 weeks. From 6 April 2020, the holiday pay reference period will increase from 12 weeks to 52 weeks. When calculating an employees’ holiday pay entitlement an employer will now be required to look back at the previous 52 weeks where a worker has worked and received pay, discarding any weeks not worked or where no pay was received, to calculate the average weekly pay.

It is hoped that this change will help to even out the variation in pay for workers, particularly those in seasonal or atypical roles.

National Minimum Wage Changes

The rates for the national minimum wage will increase on 1 April 2020. The national living wage rate, for workers aged 25 and over, will increase from £8.21 to £8.72. Click here for further details. 

How to Prepare

Employers are well advised to review their contracts of employment with staff and put practices in place to ensure the correct information is provided within the correct timeframe. 

To find out more about these topics and other legislative changes, register for our webinar here.