There are some significant changes coming in next month. Are you ready for these changes?
1 April 2024
National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage
The National Living Wage (NLW) for adults aged 21 and over will increase to £11.44 per hour. This is a change from the current NLW as this applies to workers aged 23 and over.
The National Minimum Wage rates that take effect on 1 April 2024 are:
- Workers aged 18-20 £8.60
- Workers aged 16-17 £6.40
- Apprentices £6.40
4 April 2024
Gender pay gap reporting
Private sector employers in Great Britain with 250 or more employees must publish their gender pay gap reports on or before 4 April.
6 April 2024
Increased benefit rates for 2024-25
From 6 April 2024, Statutory Sick Pay will increase from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.
From 7 April 2024, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Shared Parental Pay will increase from £172.48 to £184.03 per week.
Tribunal compensation limits
New limits on certain Employment Tribunal awards will come into force on 6 April.The two key changes are:
- The limit on the compensatory award for “ordinary” unfair dismissal will increase from £105,707 to £115,115
- The maximum amount of a week’s pay for calculating statutory redundancy payments and the unfair dismissal basic award increases from £643 to £700.
These new limits will apply to dismissals that take effect on or after 6 April.
6 April 2024
Flexible working
Changes to the flexible working regime come into force. Key changes include making the right to request flexible working a “day one” right and allowing employees to make two formal requests in any 12-month period, not just one.
Greater protection from redundancy for pregnant women and parents
The current redundancy protection period for women on maternity leave is being extended to include pregnancy and for 18 months after childbirth. Similar enhanced protection will apply for those returning from adoption leave and shared parental leave. In each case, the protection means that an employee who is otherwise at risk of redundancy must be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in the employer or its associated companies whether they are or may be the best candidate for it.
Carer’s leave
A new statutory right to take one week’s unpaid carer’s leave per year for the purpose of caring for a dependant with a long-term care need.
Changes to paternity leave
Eligible employees can take the current two weeks of paternity leave in two separate blocks of one week at any time in the first year, rather than just in the first eight weeks after birth or placement for adoption. The changes came into force on 8 March 2024, but apply to children whose expected week of childbirth is after 6 April 2024 and children whose expected date of placement for adoption is on or after 6 April 2024.
You should ensure that your policies cover these changes and that you are ahead of this with any requests which come in. If you are unsure, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
