The Verdict - March 2024
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Flexible working requests: know the new rules
New rules that apply to requests in Great Britain from 6 April widen the eligibility criteria and change how you must respond.
Making a request
Responding to a request
You can't reject the request without first consulting with the employee to discuss it. The new Acas code of practice suggests this consultation should be in the form of a meeting.
You must inform the employee of your final decision (including any appeal process) within 2 months of the employee's request. Previously, you had 3 months. You can take longer if the employee agrees.
How we can help
See our law guide for more about flexible working requests. We'll also be updating the Flexible working policy in our Employee handbook.
New right to carers leave available from April
From 6 April, employees in Great Britain can take 1 week of unpaid leave every 12 months to give or arrange care for dependants.
Who counts as a dependant?
In what circumstances can employees take carer's leave?
Employees can take carer's leave if the dependent has:
They're entitled to carer's leave from the first day of their employment, but they don't get any extra entitlement if they have more than one dependent in need of care.
They don't have to take all the leave in one go, and can take it in half days or full days.
How much notice do employees need to give?
If an employee wants to take a period of 1.5 days (or less), they must give you 3 days' notice. If they want to take a period of 2 days or more, the notice must be twice the number of days requested (e.g. if they ask for 5 days, they must give you 10 days' notice).
Can employers refuse requests?
Not if employees give the right amount of notice. Nor can you ask for any evidence about the dependent.
You can, though, ask the employee to take the leave at a different time if you reasonably believe their absence would unduly disrupt your business.
If you do this, you must:
How we can help
We'll shortly be adding a policy on carer's leave to our Employee handbook, as well as offering a separate, standalone version.
Rules on paternity leave relaxed for employees
Employees in Great Britain can now take paternity leave later, with less notice and in separate periods.
What can employees take and when?
Employees can still choose to take up to 2 weeks' paternity leave. But they now have the option of taking those 2 weeks separately.
The old rules specified leave had to be taken in the first 56 days – employees can now take it at any time in the 52 weeks after the birth or adoption of their child.
Where a child is born early, the 52 weeks is calculated from the first day of the expected week of childbirth. E.g. if a child is born 4 weeks early, the employee actually has 56 weeks to take the leave.
How much notice must employees give?
For births, employees still need to tell you the due date at least 15 weeks in advance, but now only have to give you 28 days' notice of the dates they want to take.
The notice periods in relation to adoptions haven't changed.
When do the new rules apply?
The new rules apply if the baby's due date is on or after 7 April 2024, even if the baby is born early (i.e. before 7 April).
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The old rules still apply if a baby is born on or after 7 April, but was late (i.e. due before 7 April).
For paternity leave taken for an adoption, the new rules apply if the child is expected to be placed with the adopter on or after 6 April 2024.
How we can help
The new rules also change some of the formalities involved in giving you notice – see our law guide for more details. We will also be updating the Paternity leave policy in our Employee handbook.
Increased redundancy protection during pregnancy and leave
From April, new laws will increase the protection from redundancy available to anyone pregnant or returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
Currently, before making anyone on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave redundant, you must offer them a suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available, before their contract ends.
This takes priority over the general requirement to offer suitable alternative positions to other employees at risk of redundancy.
From 6 April, new laws will extend the period during which employees in Great Britain must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy:
Changes to holiday entitlement calculation begin from April
If you employ 'part-year' or 'irregular hours' workers, you may need to start changing the way your calculate their holiday from April.
Who is affected?
The new rules apply to workers in England, Wales and Scotland who work:
Holiday entitlement calculations
The statutory annual leave entitlement for these workers will accrue on the last day of each pay period at the rate of 12.07% of the number of hours that they worked during that pay period.
In effect, it's an 'accrue-as-you-go' approach – meaning that these workers won't have their whole year's holiday entitlement available to them at the beginning of the year. You will need to decide if they can book and take holiday before they've technically accumulated it.
There is an amended version of the method when calculating holiday accrued while on maternity or family-related leave, or off sick.
Holiday pay
Holiday pay for these workers is also changing. You'll have an option to use rolled-up holiday pay. This is where you pay the worker an additional amount on top of their normal rate of pay that represents payment for their holiday pay. The rate of rolled-up holiday pay must be 12.07% of their total earnings in the pay period.
You should tell affected staff if you plan to use this method – it's possible it may also require a change to their contracts, for which you'd need their permission.
When do the new rules apply?
These rules will take effect in relation to holiday leave years that start on or after 1 April 2024. So, if your holiday year runs from 6 April to 5 April, you'll need to adopt the new rules from 6 April. But if it runs from 1 January to 31 December, you won't be affected until 1 January 2025.
More information
You can read more about the new calculation methods, with examples, in the government guidance. Note, though, that this guidance doesn't provide answers to all specific circumstances – read it carefully, as it gives examples where contracts need to have certain terms in order for them to apply.
If you're unsure if the guidance affects you, you should seek legal advice. Your liability for underpaying holiday pay carries over from one leave year to the next and only disappears once shortfalls have been paid.
Minimum wage and statutory pay rates rise
As well as the usual increases to the figures, there is also a change to the minimum wage bandings.
National living/minimum wage
From 1 April, the 21 to 22 age band will be removed and the hourly rates will be:
The accommodation offset (the amount you can deduct from the minimum wage if you provide accommodation to your worker) will rise to ￡9.99 per day.
Other rates
From 7 April, for the following types of payment, the weekly rate will be ￡184.03 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings (whichever is lower):
On 6 April, statutory sick pay will increase to ￡116.75 per week.
* This bulletin is for general purposes and guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Its contents should not be relied or acted upon without specific advice from a licensed legal practitioner.