Four major changes to employment law this month

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Major changes have been made to employment law this week in a bid to give workers more control over their working hours, more protection when they’re pregnant and more flexibility for workers caring for a dependent.

The government has said the new changes coincide with their ‘Back to Work Plan’ to help people find, stay and succeed in work.

Changes to employment law

Business Minister, Kevin Hollinrake said:

“Whether you’re a new parent trying to juggle work commitments with a newborn or a pregnant woman balancing the pressures of work and life, or looking after a disabled or elderly family member while working, these new laws will give families greater security and flexibility.

“From childcare commitments to hospital appointments, the measures coming in today means more flexibility over where and when you work, supporting workers across the UK.

“These measures are good business sense too, helping firms to attract more talent, increase retention and improve workforce diversity.

“Protecting and enhancing workers’ rights whilst supporting businesses to grow remains a priority for this government and a dynamic labour helps to drive up wages, employment and economic growth.”

We have rounded up what the changes mean and how they will come into effect:

Flexible working

From April 6, workers will be able to request flexible working from Day One of their employment, instead of the usual 26 weeks under the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

This means that workers can request flexible working from their first day at a new job, which could include staggered hours, flexitime, part-time working, compressed hours, job sharing or hybrid working.

Under the new rules, if an employer cannot accommodate a request to work flexibly, they will be required to discuss alternative options before they can reject the request. For example, if it is not possible to change an employee’s working hours on all days, they could consider making the change for certain days instead.

Employees will be allowed to make two flexible working requests in any 12-month period, and employers will be required to respond to requests within 2 months, instead of 3 at present.

The government has said the raft of new measures will give employees greater access to flexibility over where, when, and how they work, leading to happier, more productive staff.

Kevin Hollinrake, said:

“Giving staff more say over their working pattern makes for happier employees and more productive businesses. Put simply, it’s a no-brainer.

“Greater flexibility over where, when, and how people work is an integral part of our plan to make the UK the best place in the world to work.”

New pregnancy redundancy law

From April 6, new redundancy protections will apply to people who are pregnant in England, Wales and Scotland.

Under the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave Act 2023), employees will be protected from redundancy from the point they tell their employer about their pregnancy until 18 months after the expected date of delivery, the date of the child’s birth, or date of adoption.

While the protections were in place for people on maternity, family or adoption leave, the new law now includes people who are pregnant. If a pregnant person faces a redundancy, they will also now have the right to be offered an alternative role.

But the changes will also now mean that people on maternity leave will benefit from the protections for two years, up from one year.

Unpaid Carer’s Leave

From April 6, there will also be a new right for employees with caring responsibility for a dependant. The new rights will give carers the option of taking one week of unpaid leave per year, to help them balance their caring and work responsibilities and support them to remain in employment.

Employees will be entitled to unpaid leave to give or arrange care for a ‘dependant’ who has:

a physical or mental illness or injury that means they’re expected to need care for more than 3 months
a disability (as defined in the Equality Act 2010)
care needs because of their old age

Employees can take up to one week of leave every 12 months. A ‘week’ means the length of time they usually work over 7 days. For example, if someone usually works 3 days a week, they can take 3 days of carer’s leave.

They can either take a whole week off or take individual days or half days throughout the year.

Changes to Paternity Leave

Changes to Paternity Leave go into force this month for babies born after April 6, to give fathers more flexibility in how and when the leave can be taken.

The new rules mean that Paternity Leave can now be taken at any time in the first year of the child’s life and it no longer needs to be taken in a single block of one or two weeks.