The latest gender pay gap reporting deadlines are imminent with most public sector employers needing to submit their 2023-2024 gender pay gap data by 30 March 2024. 

Private and voluntary sector employers, and other public sector employers have to submit their 2023-2024 gender pay gap data by 4 April 2024.

The rules apply to employers with 250 or more employees.

Employers should also be ready for their snapshot dates for the next gender pay gap reporting year. These are on 31 March 2024 for most public sector employers and 5 April 2024 for private and voluntary sector employers, and other public sector employers.

National minimum wage rates change on 1 April 2024, with record-breaking annual increases of up to 21%.

The national living wage not only increases from £10.42 to £11.44, but also applies to employees aged 21 and over, instead of the previous 23 and over.

For employers that have irregular hours or part-year employees on their books, holiday entitlement and a new way to calculate holiday pay comes into effect on 1 April 2024.

If you’re not familiar with the percentage 12.07%, you soon will be.

In November, the government published the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023, part of which aims to simplify annual leave and holiday pay calculations under the Working Time Regulations 1998.

For holiday years starting from or after 1 April 2024, irregular hours workers and part-year workers are no longer entitled to the four weeks’ annual leave and 1.6 weeks’ additional leave (totalling 5.6 weeks) that regular hours workers receive.

Instead, they receive a proportion of pay that is equivalent to 5.6 weeks. The amount of annual leave irregular hours workers are entitled to at the end of a pay period during a holiday year is:

• the amount of annual leave they have accrued that year

• plus the amount of annual leave they have carried forward into that leave year

• minus any annual leave they have taken during that leave year.

In a holiday year, an irregular hours worker or part-year worker accrues annual leave at the end of each pay period at the rate of 12.07% of the hours worked during that period, up to a maximum of 28 days.

The regulations also amend the Working Time Regulations so that rolled-up holiday pay will be allowed for irregular hours workers and part-year workers. This involves paying an additional amount representing holiday pay for each pay period throughout the year, instead of paying holiday pay at the time annual leave is taken. The change applies to holiday years beginning on or after 1 April 2024.

As announced in this month’s spring budget, the government is cutting employees’ national insurance contributions again, just three months after the last cut was implemented.

Employees’ national insurance is reduced to 8% from 6 April 2024, down from the 10% level that was introduced on 6 January 2024. Before that the rate was 12%, meaning an average employee earning £35,400 will save around £900 per year from April.

HR professionals need to liaise with their payroll provider or finance team to ensure the change is implemented from 6 April.

From 6 April 2024, employees in England, Scotland and Wales are entitled to one week of unpaid leave per year to provide or arrange care for a dependant.

A dependant is defined as an employee’s spouse, civil partner, child or parent, any person who lives in the same household as the employee (other than as a lodger or similar), or any other person who would reasonably rely on the employee to provide or arrange care. 

This does not have to be a family member.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 states that leave is available to employees who need to give or arrange care for a dependant who has:

• a physical or mental illness or injury that means they need care for more than three months

• a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010

• care needs because of their old age.

It’s a day-one right, meaning there is no requirement for a certain length of service. Some employers may choose to enhance the leave so that the employees on carer’s leave continues to be paid.

HR professionals are being advised to offer training so that line managers understand what people are entitled to, and to create a carer’s leave policy which includes information on who can be defined as carers and dependants, whether the leave is paid or unpaid, how much notice is required and examples of caring responsibilities.

Another policy review for HR professionals to complete relates to an employee’s right to request flexible working.

New flexible working legislation from 6 April 2024 removes the requirement for an employee to have 26 weeks’ continuous service before they can make a formal flexible working request. This means the right to request flexible working becomes a ‘day-one’ right.

Employees will also be able to make two flexible working requests every 12 months, a change from the previous single request. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 will reduce the time limit for employers to deal with flexible working requests from three to two months, although this can be extended if the employee agrees.

Employers must consult with an employee before refusing a request, and employees no longer need to explain or justify the impact of the proposed change to their working arrangements.

Acas has drafted a new code of practice on how employers should handle flexible working requests once the new changes have taken effect and will come into effect alongside the new regulations from 6 April.

Legislation allowing fathers or partners to split their statutory paternity leave into two blocks has now been enacted.

The Paternity Leave Amendment Regulations 2024, which apply where the expected week of childbirth falls on or after 6 April 2024, allow paternity leave to be split into two blocks of one week at any point in the first 52 weeks (up from 56 days) after the birth or adoption of a child.

Notice of entitlement to take paternity leave must be given during or before the 15th week before the expected week of birth, followed by at least 28 days’ notice of each period of leave.

For parents of babies born before 6 April 2024, fathers or partners are only able to take one continuous block of paternity leave of one or two weeks within the first eight weeks after birth, unless an enhanced paternity leave policy states otherwise.

Any employers considering making redundancies should be aware of the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023, which provides greater protections for employees during pregnancy, and those returning to work after family-related leave.

The Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 come into force on 6 April 2024 and extend redundancy protection so it applies:

• from the point an employee informs their employer they are pregnant

• until 18 months after the expected week of childbirth, the child’s birth date, or date of adoption, for employees returning from maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave.

During the protection period, employees have the right to be offered suitable alternative employment in a redundancy situation.

As is always the case at this time of year, the government has increased various rates of statutory pay. Statutory sick pay increases from £109.40 to £116.75 per week on 6 April 2024 for employees working five qualifying days per week.

The rates of statutory maternity pay and statutory adoption pay (after first six weeks), statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory parental bereavement pay all increase to £184.03 per week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The rate for first six weeks’ statutory maternity or adoption pay remains at 90% of average weekly earnings.

Even if you’re in the middle of a tribunal case, there’s nothing you actually need to do for this one, but it is worth knowing that the awards that can be handed down by employment tribunal judges increase on 6 April 2024.

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2024 changes the limits on various tribunal awards and other amounts payable under employment law.

The order applies where the event that gives rise to the entitlement to the payment occurs on or after 6 April 2024. For example, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases from £105,707 to £115,115, while the limit on weekly pay applied in a basic award for unfair dismissal or statutory redundancy pay increases from £643 to £700.

The new tax year begins on 6 April 2024 but, because income tax thresholds are frozen until April 2028 (for England, Wales and Northern Ireland at least), there’s nothing to do other than the usual end-of-year payroll tasks.

In Scotland, the top rate of tax increases from 47% to 48% on 6 April 2024 and a new advanced rate of 45% is introduced for income between £75,001 and £125,140 (see table).

As discussed previously, employees’ national insurance contributions are reducing by 2 percentage points again to 8% on 6 April 2024.

By 19 April 2024 your employer payment summary is required if you want to claim any payments or reclaim deductions such as your employment allowance. P60 forms need to be given to employees by 31 May 2024 and P11Ds by 6 July 2024.

Other employment law changes that should be on HR’s radar include:

• A requirement for employers to give all tips and gratuities to workers, without any deduction (expected in 2024)

• Changes to check-off processes in the public sector in England and Scotland (9 May 2024)

• Reforms to TUPE remove the requirement to hold elections for employee representatives for TUPE consultation for small businesses and for transfers of fewer than 10 employees from 1 July 2024

• The introduction of a statutory code of practice on fire and rehire is expected to be finalised in 2024

• Further regulations to be enacted around minimum service levels throughout 2024

• A new right for workers to be able to request a more predictable working pattern is expected in September 2024

• A proactive duty to prevent sexual harassment at work – expected October 2024

• Statutory neonatal care leave is expected in 2024.

The government also wants to change the age threshold for pensions auto-enrolment from 22 to 18 but it is not known when this will likely be implemented