April 2024: key dates for employers

April is the usual month for increases in a wide range of statutory rates and limits. This year is no exception but we also have the significant extension of the National Living Wage which, for the first time, is now available to workers aged 21 and over. In addition, we have extensive changes to family-friendly rights as well as the high-profile changes to holiday entitlement and pay for part-year and irregular hours workers.

We have published our Handy Fact Card 2024/25 which has the details of the increased statutory rates and limits.

Please click here to view our online version of the Handy Fact Card. You can bookmark this version for future reference.

Increase in statutory rates and limits

1 April 2024:

The threshold for the National Living Wage was lowered to include workers aged 21 and over (previously it applied to workers aged 23 and over). The new hourly rates for this and the National Minimum Wage are:

• National Living Wage (21 and over) £11.44
• 18-20 rate £8.60
• 16-17 rate £6.40
• Apprentice rate £6.40

The rates are decided each year by the Government, based on the advice of the independent public body, the Low Pay Commission.

The National Living Wage is different to the “Real Living Wage” which is overseen by the charity, the Living Wage Foundation. That reflects what the charity considers is necessary to cover everyday needs. It is currently £13.15 an hour in London and £12 an hour in the rest of the UK. There are an estimated 14,000 Living Wage employers.

Finally, note that the exemption from the National Minimum Wage for live-in domestic workers such as nannies and au pairs has been removed and those individuals are entitled to the National Minimum Wage from 1 April 2024.

6 April 2024:

• For dismissals on or after this date, a “week’s pay” which is used to calculate statutory redundancy pay and the Employment Tribunal basic award increases to £700.
• The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases to £115,115.
• The Vento bands for injury to feelings increase to:
  • Lower band £1,200 to £11,700
  • Middle band £11,700 to £35,200
  • Upper band £35,200 to £58,700 (this can be exceeded in exceptional cases)

In a surprising development back in January, the Government announced a consultation exercise on re-introducing fees in the Employment Tribunal and the consultation period ended on 25 March 2024. For details of the Government’s proposals see our earlier article.

• The weekly rate of statutory sick pay increases to £116.75.

7 April 2024:

• The weekly rate of statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement leave pay increases to £184.03 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings if this is less than the statutory rate.

The minimum weekly earnings threshold remains at £123 per week.

Employers should:

• Identify those workers who reach another age threshold and who benefit from the NLW and NMW increases to ensure that the correct sum is paid by payroll or payroll providers.
• Inform individuals who are about to take family leave about the increase in rates.
• Be aware of the new limit on a “week’s pay” if embarking on redundancy exercises in the weeks and months ahead.
• Be aware of the increased limits if involved in Employment Tribunal proceedings.

Changes to holiday entitlement and pay

1 April 2024:

The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 January 2024. However, the high-profile changes to holiday entitlement and pay for part-year and irregular hours workers apply where the leave year began on or after 1 April 2024.

The Regulations provide a definition of part-year and irregular hours workers. Those workers are removed from the scope of Regulation 13 and 13A of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and instead, they are subject to new regulations 15B to 15F of the 1998 Regulations. Specifically:

• There is a new accrual method to calculate statutory holiday entitlement for part-year and irregular hours workers in the first year of employment and beyond. Holidays accrue at a rate of 12.07% of hours worked at the end of each pay period. However, an average of working hours over a 52-week period is needed to calculate holiday accrual for part-year and irregular hours workers who are on sick leave or family-related leave.
• Employers can choose to pay rolled-up holiday pay to part-year and irregular hours workers. Once again, this applies to leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, calculated as 12.07% of normal pay in each pay period.

On 1 April 2024, the Government published updated guidance on holiday entitlement and holiday pay calculations (the original version was published on 1 January 2024). The changes clarify what is meant by a part-year worker and the treatment of bonuses.

Employers need to:

• Understand the definitions of part-year and irregular hours workers and establish whether or not they have any in their workforce.
• Review and amend any annual leave policies or Staff Handbooks so that they reflect the changes brought in by the Regulations.
• Decide whether or not to make use of the option to pay rolled-up holiday pay which may mean a variation to the contract of employment.

Family friendly rights

6 April 2024:

Flexible working

The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 provide that, for requests made on or after 6 April 2024, there is a day-one right to make a request for flexible working. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 (Commencement) Regulations 2024 were only made very recently and make other changes to the statutory request procedure. Employees can make two requests in a 12-month period rather than just one. The requirement for the employee to explain the impact of their request on the employer is removed. Employers will need to consult with employees before rejecting a request and will have to deal with requests more promptly because their time for responding to a request is reduced from three months to two. This period can be extended if both parties agree.

Acas has updated its Code of Practice on requests for flexible working to reflect these changes. The updated Code comes into effect on 6 April 2024.

Many employers are facing requests for full-time homeworking and the recent decision of the Employment Tribunal where the employer rejected such a request received considerable publicity. See our earlier article.

Carer’s leave

The Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 give employees a new right to carer’s leave if they have to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need. It is a day-one right to one week’s unpaid leave in a 12-month rolling period (pro rata for part-timers). It applies when the employee gives notice to take leave on or after 6 April 2024.

A dependant with a long-term care need is one who has a physical or mental illness or injury who is likely to need care for more than three months, or is a dependant with a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 or is a dependant who needs care because of their old age. Employees do not need to provide proof of why leave is required.

There are relatively short notice requirements – whichever is the longer of twice as many days as the amount of leave requested or three days’ notice. The leave does not have to be taken all at once but a minimum of half a day must be taken at a time.

Employers can postpone the leave but only where the operation of their business would be unduly disrupted and they must allow the leave to be taken within a month of the original date requested. Significantly, employees will be protected from detriment and dismissal for taking, or asking to take carer’s leave and any dismissal will be automatically unfair.

It is hoped that the increased flexibility will enable carers to remain in employment whilst balancing their caring responsibilities. However, there are concerns that take-up may be low because it is unpaid.

Paternity leave

The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 give employees more flexibility when taking paternity leave on or after 6 April 2024. The two weeks of paternity leave can be split into two separate blocks of one week rather than one block of either one or two weeks. Employees can take their paternity leave at any time during the first year following the birth or adoption instead of the first eight weeks as at present. The notice needed for taking paternity leave is reduced to 28 days.

Extended redundancy protection 

At present, an employee on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave, whose role is being made redundant, has priority over other employees in being offered any suitable, alternative role if one exists.

The Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 extend this right to pregnant employees and also extend the current protection for employees on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.

In relation to pregnancy, where the employer is notified of the pregnancy on or after 6 April 2024, the protected period starts when the employer is notified. It lasts for the duration of the pregnancy and ends when statutory maternity leave begins. If the employee is not entitled to statutory maternity leave, protection lasts for two weeks after the end of the pregnancy.

For maternity and adoption leave ending on or after 6 April 2024, the protected period ends 18 months after the expected week of childbirth (or the actual date of the birth where the employer has been informed of it) or the adoption placement.

For shared parental leave of six consecutive weeks or more which starts on or after 6 April 2024 and where the individual has not taken maternity or adoption leave, the protected period ends 18 months after the date of the child’s birth or adoption placement. Where less than six consecutive weeks is taken, the protected period lasts for the duration of the shared parental leave.

Employers need to:

• Update their current policies and procedures to reflect these new statutory rights.
• Prepare a new policy in relation to carer’s leave or incorporate those provisions in a current policy such as a Time off for Dependants policy.
• Consider how they intend to publicise any updated and new policies.
• Provide training to managers on the new rights, in particular to those who will be making decisions about flexible working requests.
• Understand the implications of the extended redundancy protection and how to manage the scenario when more than one individual has “priority” to a suitable vacancy.

Immigration

The Government published its comprehensive Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules on 14 March 2024. It is clearly looking to reduce net migration and the changes are likely to have a major impact on employers’ ability to recruit skilled staff.

Many wide-ranging changes come into force on 4 and 11 April 2024. These include increases to the main salary threshold, replacement of the Shortage Occupation List with a new Immigration Salary List which has a much smaller number of occupations on it and changes to the Partner Route.

For more details see our article.

State pension

6 April 2024:

The basic pension (for those who reached state pension age before 6 April 2016) and new state pension will be uplifted by 8.5%.

• The full basic state pension increases to £169.50 per week.
• The full new state pension increases to £221.20 per week.

Comment

As can be seen, there is plenty to occupy employers and HR professionals in the months ahead. Things may become even busier if there is a change of Government as the Labour party has announced that if elected, it will secure a New Deal for Working People. Proposals include banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire and removing qualifying periods for certain employment rights.

The Prime Minister recently confirmed that there won’t be a general election on 2 May 2024, the date of local elections. He previously said that it would be sometime in the second half of 2024 and many commentators think that the general election is now likely to take place in October or November 2024.