{"id":16235,"date":"2023-06-27T15:49:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T14:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/?p=16235"},"modified":"2023-07-31T14:37:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T13:37:58","slug":"changes-to-employment-law-in-2023-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/changes-to-employment-law-in-2023-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Changes to Employment Law in 2023: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From changes in flexible working to new provisions for pregnancy and family leave, 2023 has so far seen some significant new changes in employment law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you\u2019re an employer or an employee, here are some of the key changes you should be aware of.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employment Retentions (Flexible Working) Bill<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3198\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employment Retentions (Flexible Working) Bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is currently progressing through Parliament. If passed, it proposes to change an employee\u2019s statutory right to request flexible working.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At present, only employees that have worked at a business for a minimum of 26 weeks are entitled to make a flexible working request. They can do this once per year and their employer is required to notify them of the outcome of the request within three months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new Bill proposes that:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees can request flexible working from day one, rather than after 26 weeks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees can make two flexible working requests per year, instead of one<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees will no longer need to explain how flexible working might affect the business and how this could be dealt with<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers must provide their decision within two months, instead of three<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers are required to consult with employees if they intend to decline their request<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3340\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> aims to revoke certain retained EU laws from UK domestic law by the deadline of December 31st, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently undergoing considerations of amendments in Parliament, the Bill changes the ways that courts can depart from retained EU law. That includes giving Ministers the power to repeal or replace regulations with other laws they \u201cconsider appropriate\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This could have significant impacts on employment law\u2014including ending the right to paid annual leave, working time regulations, equal rights and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Head to our blog for in-depth insights and guidance from our recruitment experts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3191\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was given Royal Ascent in May and will be incorporated into existing maternity protections in July 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At present, redundancy protections only apply to employees during maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the Bill comes into force, this protection will extend from the moment an employee tells their employer that they\u2019re pregnant or will need to take adoption\/shared parental leave to after they\u2019ve returned to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3190#:~:text=Long%20title,for%20children%20receiving%20neonatal%20care.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reached Royal Ascent in May 2023. This Bill introduces new provisions for parents whose children are admitted to neonatal care for at least seven days without interruption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the Bill, these employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of statutory pay and leave, in addition to maternity and paternity leave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carer&#8217;s Leave Act 2023<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3199\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carer&#8217;s Leave Act 2023<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> received Royal Ascent in May 2023 and makes provisions about unpaid leave for employees with caring long-term responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under this new Bill, employees are entitled to at least five working days of unpaid leave for the purposes of either providing or arranging care for a dependant with a long-term need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a day-one right, and employees are protected from dismissal or detriment due to taking this leave.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3237\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is currently progressing through Parliament.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If passed, it will put in place provisions that allow workers and agency workers that have a lack of predictability regarding their working patterns (for example, those on zero-hour contracts) the right to request a more predictable working pattern after working in the same role for 26 weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking for further recruitment and career advice? You can find in-depth guidance on our blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3205\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is currently progressing through Parliament.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If passed, it will put in place a requirement for all employers to take all reasonable steps to protect workers against third-party harassment (including sexual harassment) during the course of employment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the Employment Tribunal finds that an employer has failed to take all reasonable steps and harassment has occurred, they\u2019ll face a compensation uplift of 25%.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/bills\/3396\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is now in its final stages but faces public backlash, would mandate employees in critical sectors (such as health, transport and education) to provide a minimum level of service during industrial strike action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A controversial Bill with both Unions and workers, it would enable employers to use work notices to name employees to work on strike days. If an employee ignores the notice, they wouldn\u2019t be protected against unfair dismissal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Minimum Wage and Sick Pay<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From April 1st, 2023, the following rates will apply to the national minimum wage:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>23 and over:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a310.42 (9.7% increase)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>21 or 22:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a310.18 (10.9% increase)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>18- 20:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a37.49 (9.7% increase)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>16-17:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a35.28 (9.7% increase)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Apprentices:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a35.28 (9.7% increase)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From April 10th, 2023, statutory sick pay will increase to \u00a3109.40 per week (from \u00a399.35 per week).<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get In-Depth Insights from Recruitment Experts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Head to our blog<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for expert guidance on a range of career and recruitment-related topics. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From changes in flexible working to new provisions for pregnancy and family leave, 2023 has so far seen some significant new changes in employment law. Whether you\u2019re an employer or an employee, here are some of the key changes you should be aware of. &nbsp; Employment Retentions (Flexible Working) Bill The Employment Retentions (Flexible Working)&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/news\/changes-to-employment-law-in-2023-what-you-need-to-know\/\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Changes to Employment Law in 2023: What You Need to Know<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":16241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38,40,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management","category-diversity-inclusion","category-industry-news-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16235"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16240,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16235\/revisions\/16240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/16241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}