Employment Law e-alert March 2019
7 March 2019
What's on the horizon?
Summarised below are some of the key upcoming changes to employment law, and the date they come into effect, that will affect employers, employees and workers.
We have also set out a fact sheet of employment rates for 2019/2020.
What is affected?
Increase in National Minimum Wage - 1 April 2019
• Workers aged 25 and over - £8.21 an hour (National Living Wage)
• Workers aged 21-24 - £7.70 an hour
• Development rate for workers aged 18-20 - £6.15 an hour
• Young workers rate for workers aged 16-17 - £4.35 an hour
• Apprentice rate (workers under 19 or in their first year of apprenticeship) - £3.90 an hour
Payslips - 6 April 2019
All workers will have a statutory right to receive an itemised payslip for pay periods beginning on or after 6 April, setting out the number of hours the worker is being paid for (currently this right only applies to employees).
If a worker works different hours for different rates of pay, these must all be set out on the payslip showing the hours paid for.
Contracts of employment - 6 April 2020
New regulations will create a "day one" right for all workers to receive a written statement of employment particulars.
The particulars can be sent in instalments, so long as the majority are sent at the start, and all have been sent within 2 months of employment commencing.
Calculation of holiday - 6 April 2020
These same regulations also change the holiday pay reference period for workers without regular fixed working hours from 12 weeks (currently) to 52 weeks.
New right to parental bereavement leave - 2020
Employees will have a day one right to two weeks’ statutory parental bereavement leave in the event that they lose a child, defined as a child under the age of 18, or a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, subject to meeting the eligibility requirements.
Next steps
In order to comply with the upcoming changes and reduce the risk of employees bringing claims and receiving compensation, we recommend employers:
• Ensure their hourly rates are revised to follow the new National Minimum Wage limits.
• Check your payroll providers are aware of, and make the necessary changes to, payslips.
• Check their template contracts of employments include all the information employers must provide by law.
• Review their policies and procedures to ensure they comply with best practice, and that disciplinary and grievance procedures comply with the Acas Code of Practice.
• Where proposing to dismiss an employee with under 1 year and 51 weeks' service without a formal process, consider whether they have any claims of automatic unfair dismissal for example, a claim for whistleblowing or discrimination.
If you require assistance with a compliance review, please contact a member of our Employment team.
Fact sheet
Please click here to find a summary of the payments for time off work and the key compensation limits which are increasing on 6 April 2019.
TEAM Service Provider
We have recently become suppliers for TEAM, the UK's largest network of independent recruitment agencies. To find out more, please visit their website.
For any queries regarding these topics and any other employment matters, please contact our Employment team.
Disclaimer
This update is of a general nature and is not a substitute for professional advice.
No responsibility can be accepted for the consequences of any action taken or refrained from as a result of what is said.
