HR professionals and business owners will be aware that 2024 holds a number of employment law changes.
To ensure the business is compliant in line with these changes, it is vital that employers update their policies and procedures, communicate the changes, and ensure that line managers are trained to give the appropriate advice and guidance.
Legislation changes from April 2024 include:
Flexible Working
- A day one right
- employees can make up to two flexible working requests in any 12 month period
- requests are dealt with by employers within 2 months
- employers are required to consult with employees
Protection From Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family leave)
- The right to be offered suitable alternative employment in a redundancy situation at the point the employee notifies the employer of the pregnancy
- Available until 18 months after the birth/adoption, for employees returning from maternity leave / adoption leave / shared parental leave
Paternity Leave
- Taken at any time 52 weeks after birth/adoption
- Taken as 2 consecutive weeks or as single weeks
- Employees are required to give 28 days notice for each period of leave
Carers Leave, New Statutory Entitlement
- A day one right
- Unpaid leave entitlement for employees who care for a dependant with a long-term care need
What Employers Need to Know
- Review documentation and information held within the business, including:
- Policies and procedures
- Letters and scripts (the documents used in the business when processing employee matters)
- Communication
- Communicate the changes to your employees e.g. staff handbook, family friendly policies
- Update documents and add to the shared resources pages/internal sites where documents are stored centrally, it is key that documents are updated with the new legislation. Part of the communication within the business is to ensure that where documents may be saved in other locations, that these duplicate documents are removed and not used in the future.
- Training
- Providing training to line managers and HR teams is crucial, incorporating:
- An outline of the legislation updates
- The impacts/changes to processes and procedures
To discuss the employment law updates in more detail please reach out to Helen Burrowes, HR Consultant on 0345 6460406 or email helen@nockoldshr.co.uk . At Nockolds HR we can provide a review of your current policies and procedures, and deliver training within your business. Find out more here.