Law Changes
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April 2026 | April 2025 | October 2024 | March 2024 | February 2024
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April 2025
Law Changes – April 2026
Employment Law Changes – April 2026
Alongside the usual annual updates to statutory rates, April 2026 also introduced a number of wider employment law changes.
Statutory rate increases
- National Living Wage (age 21 and over) increased to £12.71 per hour
- 18–20 year old rate increased to £10.85 per hour
- 16–17 year old rate increased to £8.00 per hour
- Apprentice rate increased to £8.00 per hour
- Statutory Sick Pay increased to £123.25 per week, or 80% of average weekly earnings if lower
- Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay increased to £194.32 per week, or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- SSP is payable from the first day of absence
- The Lower Earnings Limit has been removed, increasing eligibility
Family leave
- Employees can give notice to take Paternity Leave from day one of employment
- Employees can give notice to take Unpaid Parental Leave from day one of employment
- Paternity Leave can be taken following Shared Parental Leave
Eligibility for statutory pay remains unchanged.
Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave
A new entitlement to Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave has been introduced
Collective redundancy
The maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult has increased from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay per employee
Whistleblowing
Protections have been strengthened to clarify that disclosures relating to sexual harassment can qualify as protected disclosures
Holiday pay and record keeping
There is increased focus on holiday pay and record keeping.
- Employers should ensure they keep adequate records to demonstrate compliance with holiday entitlement and holiday pay requirements.
Fair Work Agency
A new Fair Work Agency has been established to bring together enforcement of certain employment rights
Should you have any queries on any of the above changes, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of the team.
April 2025
Law Changes – April 2025
April 2025
From 6 April 2025, several new employment rights and statutory updates took effect.
These apply to businesses of all sizes and across all sectors.
Statutory rates increased
• National Living Wage increased to £12.21 per hour for workers aged 21 and over
• Statutory Sick Pay increased to £118.75 per week
• Family-related pay including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and bereavement pay rose to £187.18 per week
• The Lower Earnings Limit for eligibility increased to £125 per week
• The weekly cap for statutory redundancy pay rose to £719 per week
• The maximum compensation for unfair dismissal increased to £118,223
Neonatal care leave and pay
• Eligible parents can now take up to 12 weeks of paid leave if their baby is admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days after birth for a stay of 7 or more consecutive days
• This is in addition to other statutory parental leave entitlements
Unpaid carer’s leave introduced
• Employees can now take up to 5 days of unpaid leave each year to care for a dependent with a long-term care need
• This right is available from day one of employment
Flexible working changes
• The right to request flexible working now applies from day one
• Employees can now make two requests per year
• Employers must respond within two months
Extended redundancy protection
• Pregnant employees are now protected from redundancy from the point they notify their employer
• Those returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave now have redundancy protection for 18 months post birth date of the baby
Legal duty to prevent harassment
• A new duty requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work
• This includes harassment by third parties such as customers or suppliers
• Failing to meet this duty can result in tribunal awards being increased by up to 25 percent
October 2024
New rules on tips and gratuities
From 1 October 2024, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force.
If your business collects or controls tips, service charges, or gratuities, you are now required to:
• Pass 100% of the amount to workers, with no deductions other than standard tax and National Insurance
• Ensure tips are distributed in a fair and transparent way
• Keep a written policy on how tips are shared, and retain records for three years
• Provide access to those records if an employee requests them
This law is particularly relevant for hospitality, leisure, and personal service businesses.
Stronger protection from sexual harassment
Also from October 2024, a new legal duty was introduced under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023.
Employers now have a legal responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, including by third parties such as clients or customers.
Failure to meet this duty could result in tribunal compensation being increased by up to 25 percent.
This is a significant change, and we recommend employers:
• Review existing harassment policies and training
• Consider how to raise awareness across all levels of the business
• Ensure staff know how to report issues confidentially
March 2024
EMPLOYMENT LAW CHANGES – 2024
The UK Government has been approving a number of employment law changes coming into effect in 2024.
- Statutory rates for the following will be increasing from 1 April 2024:
- National Minimum Wage increases to £11.44 per hour (for those aged 21 and over)
- Development rate increases to £8.60 per hour (for those aged between 18-20)
- Apprenticeship rate increases to £6.40 per hour (for those aged under 19 or over 19 but in the first year of an apprenticeship)
- Statutory rates for the following will be increasing from 6 April 2024
- Statutory sick pay increases to £116.75 per week
- Statutory rates for the following will be increasing from 7 April 2024
- Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental and parental bereavement rates increase to £184.03 per week
- Additionally, the statutory cap on a week’s pay, when calculating basic awards and statutory redundancy pay, will increase to £700 per week, effective from 6 April 2024.
Please see below the upcoming changes in employment legislation, effective from 6 April 2024:
Flexible Working (Amendments) Legislation 2023
- Becomes a day 1 right to request to work flexibly
- Reduces the time period to respond from 3 months to 2 months
- Increases the number of applications from 1 to 2 per 12 months
- Removes the need for the employee to provide a business case
- Requires the employer to consult with the employee before refusing any request
Carers Leave Regulations 2024
- A day one right to take one weeks unpaid leave, in half days, days or in a block
- In any 12-month rolling period
- To care for, provide support or make arrangements
- For a dependant requiring long -term care
- Notice in writing, should be either double the length of leave requested, or 3 days whichever is less.
Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024
- Allows eligible employees to choose to take their paternity leave in one or two weeks blocks
- Within a year of the birth, or placement of adoption
- Requires 4 weeks notice prior to taking the leave
The Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental leave (Amendment) regulations 2024
- Protects from discrimination in a redundancy situation, those who announce their pregnancy, and for 18 months following childbirth
- Enhances the automatic unfair dismissal if an employer fails to provide enhanced protections over that protected time period
- Protection is provided effective from 6 April 2024, for those notifying their employer of pregnancy, or anyone whose leave is due to end on or after 6 April 2024
The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023
- Under the legislation, which came into effect on 1 January 2024, those who work irregular hours, have had the way their holiday entitlement is calculated reformed.
- The provisions on “Rolled Up Holidays Pay” will come into force for new holiday years which start on or after 1 April 2024.
- This means that it now can become lawful to pay rolled up holiday pay, based on the 12.07% calculation (which had been deemed unlawful in the past)
- Please check your contractual terms and conditions before making any changes to the way you pay holiday pay for irregular hours workers/employees
- It remains unlawful to pay rolled up holiday pay for those work fixed hours, on full-year contracts.
Lastly, employers are being urged to remember that the holiday carry over from the Covid pandemic, ends on 31 March 2024. So any unused holiday must be used by the end of March 2024, or it will be lost.
Should you have any queries on any of the above changes, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of the team.
February 2024
Law Changes – April 2025
April 2025 From 6 April 2025, several new employment rights and statutory updates took effect. These apply to businesses of all sizes and across all sectors. Statutory rates increased • National Living Wage increased to £12.21 per hour for workers aged 21 and over •...
New rules on tips and gratuities
From 1 October 2024, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force. If your business collects or controls tips, service charges, or gratuities, you are now required to: • Pass 100% of the amount to workers, with no deductions other than standard tax and...
EMPLOYMENT LAW CHANGES – 2024
The UK Government has been approving a number of employment law changes coming into effect in 2024. Statutory rates for the following will be increasing from 1 April 2024: National Minimum Wage increases to £11.44 per hour (for those aged 21 and over) Development rate...
What’s changing: How holiday pay is calculated for irregular hours / zero hours / casual workers
When is it changing: For holiday years, starting April 2024 How to calculate holiday pay for those working irregular hours, such as zero hours or casual bank contracts, has been a bone of contention for some time now. Since the ruling from the EAT in July 2022, Harpur...
If you need further advice, don’t hesitate to call us.
HR People Support worked with Gloucestershire Gateway Trust to develop and deliver Bridging the Gap, a fantastic pre-employment training programme to fill inclusive employment opportunities at Gloucester Services. Not only was participant feedback exemplary but two thirds of attendees have gained sustainable employment during a challenging labour market and become valuable colleagues for our business.
Jason Dunsford, Head of Employment & Skills,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE GATEWAY TRUST