Introduction – Legal update for December 2022:

We present the final of our quarterly updates as 2022 comes to a close. We hope that your business has seen success this year and that the high expenses and uncertainty haven’t hurt you too badly. As we enter the last quarter, there are only a few upcoming changes to be aware of. These changes are detailed below. Aside from that, we’d like to wish you seasons greetings and all the celebrations it brings, and we look forward to continuing working with you in the coming year.

How will the Autumn Statement impact your business?

With the UK economy in recession, there was increased attention on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement delivered recently.

One of the main changes was the increase in the National Living Wage for over-23s, up by nearly 10% to £10.42 an hour from April 2023. While those on the lowest salaries – expected to be more than two million workers – will welcome the raise, small businesses may struggle to fund it, particularly amid the recent increases in the cost of doing business.

The Chancellor also committed to conducting a review of adults who have left the workforce, to improve their prospects of returning. Increasing quality of jobs and flexibility are key aspects to addressing this challenge. Our research suggests that working parents, working carers and older employees are more likely to want and require flexible working arrangements, to accommodate their circumstances.

Please contact us if you require further information on Flexible Working.

Right to work checks – reminder

From 1st of October 2022, there was a permanent system of digital right to work checks put in place. This new system is similar if not identical to the temporary process used throughout COVID-19, so it should be easy for employers and employees to carry out these checks when necessary. However, if you do need some support or have not used the digital service SYLO are happy to support you with this small but vital part of your onboarding process.

Cost of Living increase

There is no doubt that the rise in cost of living is continuing to make life extremely difficult this year. Employees and employers alike have and will be faced with increased bills, outgoings, and overheads as well as the imminent NI levy which was announced in April.

It is likely that many employees impacted by the cost-of-living squeeze may naturally begin to look to the jobs market to see if some financial gains can be made by switching jobs. Retention, will therefore be a key focus for employers in the coming months, balanced of course with affordability. Employers may wish to consider taking some proactive measures to help mitigate this, if they feel there may be cause for concern around staff retention. A good starting place is to undertake a salary and benefits market review/benchmarking exercise to ensure that your current employee offering is fair, reasonable, and competitive for your particular sector and/or, in relation to your competitors. Ensuring you are regularly communicating all that you offer to your employees is also key, such as your employee benefits (including any non-financial benefits). Employee wellbeing will also be key, particularly thinking about what support you may be able to offer your employees in the form of financial wellbeing, such as access to help and support around debt management and budgeting skills.

You can watch our recent webinar recording which explores Wellbeing in the Workplace, and financial wellbeing in particular, in more detail.

Please do speak to your HR Lead if you would like to explore further how we can support you with retention, or, more generally, the impacts of the cost-of-living increase on your business and your people.

Holiday pay for permanent “part-year” workers

The long-awaited Supreme Court judgment has been unanimously delivered in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel, confirming that whether a permanent worker works a full or part year they are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday entitlement.

Where weekly pay varies, you should calculate holiday pay based on an employee’s average weekly earnings over the previous 52 paid weeks.

When you calculate the amount of money you paid your worker, do not include the weeks they didn’t work. It should also not include any weeks where “normal” pay wasn’t given, for example, if they were on sick leave so given sick pay.

You can go back a maximum of two years (104 weeks) to obtain the relevant 52 weeks’ pay data. If you don’t have 52 weeks’ data, then the reference period becomes the number of weeks’ worth of data available.

If this affects any of your workforce and you would like some further advice as to how this works in practice, please contact us on enquiries@sylobeyondhr.com

Carers Leave

The Carers Bill passed its second reading in parliament on the 21st October. This bill will grant employees a new entitlement to take up to one week’s unpaid leave per year to provide/arrange care for dependents with long term care needs. This will be a day one right for all employees regardless of length of service. Carers taking this leave will not need to present how or for whom it will be used for. This bill will come into effect on the day the Act is passed, which should be in early 2023. We will keep you posted on when this new right comes into action.

Pregnancy and maternity protection

The government has now given its support in increasing the level of protection against redundancies for new and expectant mothers. Employers are already required to provide suitable replacement roles, if there are any, as an alternative to redundancy to workers on maternity, parental, or adoption leave. Employees that fit into this category should receive preferential treatment over other workers who could be made redundant. This new measure enables the extension of this protection to expectant women who are not yet on maternity leave and to new parents who are returning to work after taking maternity, parental, or adoption leave. Redundancy protection periods will be extended to begin on the day an employee informs her employer that she is pregnant and end 18 months after the baby is born. This will give women an additional six months of protection.

All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on menopause

The APPG are currently undergoing an inquiry to evaluate the impacts of menopause on woman and families and the case of policy reform. The APPG made suggestions to the government on how to better assist working women going through the menopause. These suggestions, which aim to give businesses the resources they need to support employees going through menopause at work, may eventually result in new employment law legislation, but for the time being they are merely suggestions for the government to take into account. The suggestions include;

  • Coordinate and support an employee led campaign as a way to raise awareness and prevent the subject being seen as a taboo. Campaigns should spread the importance of supporting employees and seeing menopause as a core health issue.
  • Update and promote best practice for employers. This includes creating supportive materials such as policies and fact sheets. Guidance and support should be accessible to all employers of difference sizes and resources.

If you would like your company to be one of the forerunners implementing policy on this issue, please contact us to discuss our Menopause Policy.

Potential upcoming Developments

Flexible working – proposal to become a ‘Day One’ right

There have been no further updates on this matter, but it is still very much in the pipeline for the future.

As a reminder, in addition to making flexible working requests a ‘Day One’ right, the Government consultation proposes:

  • Requiring employers to suggest alternatives if they reject the employee’s request
  • Allowing the change to be temporary rather than permanent
  • Reviewing whether the eight business reasons for refusing a request remain valid.

Neonatal Leave and Pay (Expected in 2023)

There is a commitment to introduce extra-statutory leave and pay for all parents of premature babies needing specialist care in a neonatal unit. In March 2020, the government confirmed its intention to introduce 12 weeks’ paid leave for parents in this position to avoid them having to choose between returning to work and taking care of their new-born baby. It has been indicated that the premature baby leave would be in addition to existing maternity and paternity pay provisions. Although details on how it will work are yet to be released, the leave is expected to be taken after maternity/paternity leave, in blocks of one or more weeks, and paid at the statutory rate for those employees with 26 weeks’ service.

There was also a Budget 2020 commitment to consult on a new ‘in-work entitlement’ for employees with unpaid caring responsibilities, such as for a family member or a dependant.

Finally…

As a valued client, we would like to continue to keep you updated on key topics which we feel would be of interest to you and your business, for example employment-related developments and hot topics, details of our online training programmes and our quarterly Employment Law updates.

Should you wish to opt-out of these, please just let us know.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and, should you wish to explore any of the topics highlighted in this bulletin, we would be happy to discuss them further with you. Please drop us a line at enquiries@sylobeyondhr.com.