Employment
2024 is likely to be a busy one for HR practitioners and line managers across the real estate sector. New legislation will impact pay and wages, provide additional protection for staff taking family-related leave.
It will also allow employees to ask to work flexibly from the first day of their employment and introduce a new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment.
Family related leave, flexibility and predictability
From April, pregnant women and new parents returning from family-related leave will get added protection if they’re put at risk of redundancy. Women must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists, if they’re selected for redundancy, from the point they tell their employer they are pregnant, and for six months after they return to work. New parents returning to work from adoption or shared parental leave will be protected for a similar additional period.
Discrimination
From the autumn, employers will have a new duty to prevent workplace sexual harassment and may have to pay additional compensation if they breach this.
Key employment law changes for 2024:
- New rules for casual and part-year staff in respect of holiday entitlement and option to roll-up holiday pay
- New definition of holiday pay for all other workers
- 21-year-olds will be entitled to receive the national living wage and rates increase by over £1 an hour for all age groups
- Additional protection in a redundancy situation for pregnant women and employees returning from family-related leave
- New right to take a week’s unpaid leave for working carers
- Changes to the right to ask for flexible working under the statutory scheme, including making it a day-one right and allowing employees to make two requests a year
- New duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment
- New right for casual staff and those on fixed term contracts of less than 12 months to ask for the right for predictable working patterns
- Changes to TUPE rules on consultation for businesses with fewer than 50 employees or where fewer than 10 employees are transferring.
With a general election looming in 2024, if the current Conservative government lose, then we're likely to see further change. The Labour party has set out some of the changes it wants to make to employment law.
Jo Moseley
Senior Associate, Employment Law +44 (0)742 343 4853
joanne.moseley@irwinmitchell.com
Sybille Steiner
Partner, Employment Law +44 (0)778 577 5790
sybille.steiner@irwinmitchell.com