Here are the new laws that come into effect next month ⬇️

🤰 First up, we have the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023.

Pregnant employees or those returning from maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave will be protected from redundancy.

It will be your duty as an employer to offer these employees a suitable alternative vacancy in the 18 months after birth or adoption. The existing right to be offered a vacancy while on leave will be extended. Failure to comply will be considered unfair dismissal and discrimination.

❤️‍🩹 Next, there’s the Carer’s Leave Act 2023.

This states that employees with carer responsibilities will be granted a legal right to take up to 5 days off a year to fulfil their responsibilities. These days will be unpaid and can be taken as full or half days.

🔄 Thirdly, we have the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023

There’s been a lot of news about this, so I’m sure you will have heard of this change.

Employees gain the right to request flexible working from day one, with an increased limit of two requests per year.

👨‍🍼 Finally, we have the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Employees will be able to take statutory paternity leave at any point in the first year (previously it was only allowed during the first 8 weeks) and will be able to split it up into two separate blocks of one week.

There are also some more changes due to come into play by the end of the year, which we will update you on later in the year. Some of these have been on the horizon since 2018, so hopefully you’re prepared for the changes. But if you’d like help amending your documentation, or anything else, get in touch.

#EmploymentLaw #NewLaws #HR #LegalCompliance