November 2024: EAT Lunch Takeaways

How long is paternity leave?

Under the Employment Rights Bill October 2024, employees in the UK are now entitled to paternity leave and parental leave from the first day of their employment. Previously, these rights were only available after 26 weeks of continuous service. However, the length of paternity leave remains unchanged at two weeks.

How much carers leave am I entitled to?

Carers are entitled to one week of unpaid leave, which can be taken in full days or half days. This leave is available only upon the employee's formal request to their employer.

How does a business put in steps to prevent sexual harassment?

Under the Employment Rights Bill 2024, employers are required to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, including instances involving third-party organisations or contractors. While specific details of what constitutes "reasonable steps" have not yet been defined, it is anticipated that examples may include incorporating preventive measures and expectations into contracts with third-party employers.

What are the eight statutory reasons for an employer to decline flexible working?

The eight statutory reasons for an employer to decline to request flexible working are:

1. The burden of additional costs

2. An inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff

3. An inability to recruit additional staff

4. A detrimental impact on quality

5. A detrimental impact on performance

6. Detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand

7. Insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work

8. Planned structural changes to the business

What are guaranteed hours and when do we need to offer this to employees?

The Bill introduces a new guaranteed hours policy, ensuring that employees on zero-hours or "low-hours" contracts have the right to be offered a new contract reflecting the hours they have consistently worked over a specified reference period. The exact duration of this reference period has yet to be confirmed.

Employees are not obligated to accept the new contract. However, employers must continue to offer the contract in subsequent reference periods if the employee declines. Once the contract is offered, the employer cannot withdraw it or reduce the number of hours specified within it.

What is an automatic unfair dismissal?

This applies in situations where an employer seeks to modify an employee's contract without the employee's agreement or where employment is terminated and replaced with a new arrangement. Employees experiencing financial difficulties may be exempt from these changes.

What are the new statutory sick pay rules?

Under the new provisions, employees will be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) from their first day of employment. The current lower earnings limit for eligibility will be removed and replaced with a consultation-based figure, calculated as a percentage of the employee’s salary. This change could affect statutory sick pay rates and the amount of statutory sick pay an employee receives, although the specific percentage for the consultation figure has yet to be confirmed.

What are the new bereavement leave rules?

Bereavement leave will be expanded to cover all types of bereavement, entitling employees to one week of unpaid compassionate leave. However, the specific relationships or circumstances this expanded leave will apply to have not yet been confirmed.

What is the new Fair Work Agency?

The Bill establishes a new enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency, tasked with upholding workplace rights such as statutory sick pay and holiday pay. This agency will have the authority to inspect workplaces, issue fines, and initiate civil proceedings on behalf of workers to ensure compliance with employment regulations.

What is collective redundancy consultation?

The Employment Rights Bill removes the requirement for redundancies to be limited to a single establishment. Employers must now consider collective redundancy across their entire business when assessing the need for collective consultation for redundancy.

Under the new legislation, employers are required to engage in collective consultation for redundancy if they plan to make 20 or more redundancies across their business, regardless of location. This change addresses previous practices where employers with multiple sites avoided collective consultation by keeping redundancies below 20 at each location.