The guidance provided here is to help HR teams and the businesses they represent, to prepare for the changes and ensure businesses are prepared ahead of the reforms coming into force. The following reforms or updates will come into force from January 1st 2024.

Item 1

Introduction of the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023
These changes are part of post-Brexit modifications and include:

• The introduction of an accrual system for calculating holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers at a rate of 12.07% of hours worked, along with the option for ‘rolled-up’ holiday pay
• Amendments to the Working Time Regulations 1998 to ensure workers can carry over annual leave in certain situations, such as maternity/family-related leave or sickness
• Clarification and simplification of record-keeping requirements under the Working Time Regulations 1998, removing the obligation to record daily working hours
• Easing of consultation obligations under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 for small businesses and in cases of small transfers
• The Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 will maintain key rights and principles in equality law related to pregnancy, maternity, breastfeeding, indirect discrimination, employment access, equal pay, and disability definition

What should HR teams and businesses do?
Ensure all elements within this regulation are adhered to in new and current employee contracts. 

Item 2

Draft legislation to amend the Equality Act 2010

The legislation will:

• Preserve the right to claim discrimination by association
• Amend the guidance on the definition of disability, to state that a person’s ‘ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ should include consideration of their ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers
• Confirm that less favourable treatment on the ground of breastfeeding amounts to direct sex discrimination
• Protect women from unfavourable treatment after returning from maternity leave, where the treatment is connected to their pregnancy or a pregnancy-related illness occurring before their return
• Extend direct discrimination protection to cover discriminatory statements made about not wanting to recruit people with certain protected characteristics, even where there is no active recruitment process ongoing and no identifiable victim

What should HR teams and businesses do?
Companies should ensure they have tailored policies, training and practices in place to support an inclusive culture. Training particularly, needs to be rolled out regularly and treated as compliance-based learning such as manual handling in the world of health and safety, this is a sure fast way to maintain consistency of message and expectations.

Further changes expected as 2024 progresses, include:

Item 1

Redundancy and family related leave
Regulations have been laid before Parliament, extending the period of protection from redundancy for employees who are pregnant, on maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave (SPL). 

They bring the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 into operation.

Currently, the law provides that parents on maternity leave, adoption leave or SPL should be given priority access to suitable alternative vacancies in a redundancy situation. The new law will extend this right as follows:

• Maternity – the protected period will cover pregnancy, plus 18 months from the first day of the estimated week of childbirth (or the actual date of birth, if the employee confirms this in writing before the end of their maternity leave)
• Adoption – the protected period will cover 18 months from the date of placement for adoption
• SPL – the protected period will cover 18 months from birth, provided that the parent has taken at least 6 consecutive weeks of SPL

When will these changes take effect?
The extension to the protected period re: pregnancy applies where the employer is informed of the pregnancy on, or after, 6 April 2024.

The extension of the other protections will apply to maternity and adoption leave ending on or after 6 April 2024; and shared parental leave starting on or after 6 April 2024.

The Regulations remain draft only, and may be subject to change.

What should HR teams and businesses do?
Keep in touch with any third-party support of HR and/or employment law, such as AfterAthena, to help navigate any further changes to the current draft legislation.

When the legislation becomes law, it’s advisable that all contracts and working arrangements are amended to adhere to the regulation.

Item 2

Focus on wellbeing
This will include a holistic approach to include men’s mental health and perimenopause and menopause. Supporting a well workforce is paramount to a business for a number of reasons, however the moral and ethical obligations of this is often overlooked and productivity, profitability and employer image is focused on.

This approach can drive the wrong behaviours from a business as they adopt a reactive stance such as absence management and occupational health.

What should HR teams and businesses do?
Proactive wellbeing strategies are the correct approach, educating employees on wellbeing, from physical and mental health to financial health. Creating a culture where wellbeing is supported and encouraged.

Item 2

AI is here to stay
There have been many discussions already around how this will impact businesses, people and a HR function particularly.

Ultimately, AI should support individuals to work more efficiently, allowing them to focus their time more effectively.

What should HR teams and businesses do?
The real question here is do employees have the skills to maximise the benefits of technology and AI? And what can HR do to support the business to address a skills gap?

Many businesses are reviewing the structure of teams and making changes to account for the use of AI in the business now and in the future.

Strategic thinking in this regard is necessary to ensure businesses have a workforce fit for the future, and therefore it’s often wise to consult third-party support to ensure a business utilises the many benefits of AI.