03/04/2020

New laws on 6 April 2020 – a quick reminder

Many businesses are rightly prioritising the COVID-19 pandemic. However, employers must be sure not to be distracted from important changes in employment law this Monday, 6 April 2020 and will be relevant in managing employees during the current crisis.   For ease of reference, here is a quick fire reminder of the changes taking effect on Monday.

Workers as well as employees starting on or after 6 April 2020 will have the right to a written statement of particulars of employment from day one.  We give more details on this change here.

The reference period for calculating holiday pay is increased from 12 weeks to 52 weeks, or the number of complete weeks which the worker has been employed if less than 52 weeks.

All employment businesses need to provide agency workers with a key facts statement before agreeing the terms by which the work seeker will undertake work.

The so called “Swedish derogation” under the Agency Worker Regulations 2020 will be repealed. This will give all agency workers the right to have pay parity with comparable permanent staff after 12 weeks of assignment, regardless of whether they are paid between assignments or not.

Employees will have a statutory right to take one or two weeks paid bereavement leave following the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth from the 24th week onwards of pregnancy occurring on or after 6 April 2020. Statutory bereavement pay may be payable during parental bereavement leave depending on the individual’s length of service and earnings.

There are also a number of key changes to statutory minimum rates, including:

  • National Living Wage – will increase from £8.21 to £8.72 per hour
  • Maximum statutory maternity/adoption pay after 6 weeks, statutory paternity pay and statutory shared parental leave pay will increase from £148.68 per week to £151.20
  • A maximum week’s pay for the purposes of statutory redundancy pay calculation will increase from £525 to £538
  • Statutory sick pay will increase from £94.25 to £95.85 per week