There are a number of significant changes to Employment Legislation and your Employment Rights coming soon:
Changes to written statements of employment particulars
Holiday Pay Calculations
Parental Bereavement Leave
Zero Hours
National Living Wage
Changes to written statements of employment particulars
There are three important changes to written statements, which will apply from April 6th, 2020:
All workers employed on or after 6th April 2020 will be entitled to a written statement of employment particulars
Employees and workers must be provided with their written statement on or before their first day of employment
There is additional information that written statements will need to contain, including:
The hours and days of the week the worker /employee is required to work, whether they may be varied and how
Entitlements to any paid leave
Any other benefits not covered elsewhere in the written statement
Details of any probationary period
Details of training provided by the employer.
Changes to holiday pay calculations
From 6th April 2020, the reference period to calculate a 'week's pay' for holiday pay purposes will be extended from the previous 12 weeks of work to the previous 52 weeks.
Currently, if you have variable hours, to calculate holiday pay an average is taken of hours worked and pay received over the last 12 weeks.
There are two important changes to the Employment Rights Act 1996, affecting pay slip information, which will come into force on 6 April 2020:
Employers must include the total number of hours worked where the pay varies according to the hours worked, for example under variable hours or zero hour contracts
Payslips must be given to 'workers' and not just employees.
Currently, an employee is an individual employed under a contract of employment. A worker who is not an employee, works under a contract whereby the individual "undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not … that of a client or customer". From a nanny perspective we are talking self-employed here. From 6th April 2020, both must receive a payslip.
Parental Bereavement Leave
The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act 2018 has been passed by Royal Assent and is expected to come into force in April 2020.
It will give all employed parents the right to 2 weeks' leave if they lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. Parents will also be able to claim pay for this period, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.
National Living Wage
The rates for the national minimum wage will increase on 1 April 2020. The national living wage rate, for workers aged 25 and over, will increase from £8.21 to £8.72.
The rates for younger workers will also increase, with hourly rates rising to £8.20 for workers aged at least 21 but under 25, to £6.45 for workers aged at least 18 but under 21 and to £4.55 for workers aged under 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age. The rate for apprentices will rise to £4.15.
Employers should also ensure that they fully comply with changes to other statutory pay requirements. The proposed rate for statutory maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay is £151.20, up from £148.68. The rate for statutory sick pay is also expected to increase on 6 April 2020. The proposed new rate is £95.85, up from £94.25.
