Date published: 4th April 2024

We will see many more employment-related changes to the law in April 2024. Some changes are due to come in later in the year, but here is all you need to know on the key changes coming this April.  

Holiday pay for atypical workers 

If you are an atypical worker – i.e., a worker who does not fall into the traditional role of a full-time employee working for a single employer under a contract of employment of indefinite length, there are changes to holiday pay incoming: 

  • Amendments to the Working Time Regulations introduce a new statutory holiday regime for two groups of atypical workers, for holiday years beginning on 1 April onwards. 

  • The two groups of workers are “part-year” and “irregular hours” workers. The new measures will introduce separate rules for the way annual leave accrues for these workers and allow employers to pay them rolled-up holiday pay, where employers will spread your holiday pay over the year by adding it on top of your hourly wage.  

National Minimum Wage 

Every April, we see an increase in the minimum hourly rates that employers must pay to different groups of workers. On 1st April 2024, there will be an increase to the top rate (also known as the National Living Wage) which will rise from £10.42 to £11.44. 

There will also be comparable rises for the other rates. The National Minimum Wage (NMW) will also be extended to apply to workers aged 21+ and is increasing to £11.44 per hour. Therefore, many employers will benefit from taking proactive steps to assess their NMW compliance risk, particularly given the increase in HMRC enforcement activity.  

The rates can be found here: National Minimum Wage rates 

Family friendly rights 

There will be four sets of changes will take effect from 6 April: 

The right to request flexible working  

  • The right to request flexible working will become a “day one” right so an employee will no longer need to wait 26 weeks to make a request to change their working pattern, hours of work or place of work. Some of the procedural requirements will also be relaxed, with up to two request per year now being allowed. This will bring more flexibility to ask for changes as individuals personal circumstances change.  

Read more about the changes to flexible working. 

Protection against redundancy  

  • There will be enhanced protection for pregnant women and for new parents against redundancy. Currently, employees on maternity, shared parental leave or adoption leave have the right to be offered a suitable alternative role, where one is available, in a redundancy situation during their leave period. This gives them a priority over other employees that are at risk of redundancy. The change coming into force will mean that for mothers, the protection will start when she informs her employer that she is pregnant and end 18 months after the beginning of the expected week of childbirth. Similarly, protection for adoption leave will increase to 18 months after the date of placement (or date of entry into Great Britain for overseas adoptions). For employees who have suffered a miscarriage, the protected period will start when the employee notifies the employer of pregnancy and will end two weeks after the end of the pregnancy for pregnancies ending before 24 weeks. Similar changes are being made for parents taking other types of statutory leave. 

Unpaid carer’s leave  

  • Leave of up to a week in a rolling 12-month period each year will be introduced, which is in addition to the existing right to take a reasonable amount of time off to care for a dependant (which is limited to emergencies, unexpected incidents, death, or to make long-term care arrangements). 

Paternity leave  

  • Regulations have been introduced to vary how paternity leave can be taken for both birth and adoption, the change will allow the father or partner to take their leave and pay as two non-consecutive blocks of one week, as opposed to a single consecutive block of one or two weeks. There is also flexibility around when the father or partner takes this leave. This will make paternity leave more flexible, though the overall entitlement will not change. Employers will need to consider this and update their policies to ensure that they are compliant.  

Please contact us should you wish for us to review your policies and update them for you. 

Employee National Insurance 

  • We saw a reduction in January of 2% to National Insurance (NI) following the Autumn Budget (the reduction took the NI from 12% to 10%), which saw many employees gain a small increase in their take home pay. The main rate of employee National Insurance contributions is to be further reduced by 2%, following announcements in the Spring Budget on 6 March. That means that the rate will be reduced to 8% from 6 April. For specific guidance on NI rates see . 

Employment tribunal compensation limits 

  • The annual uprating of tribunal limits takes effect when the appropriate date (typically the effective date of termination) falls on or after 6 April. The key figures are: 

  • The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims has been increased from £105,707.00 to £115,115.00 (note subject generally to the further cap so that the limit is the lower of £115,115 or 52 weeks' pay). 

  • The statutory limit on a week’s pay has been increased from £643.00 to £700.00. 

  • The minimum basic award for unfair dismissal cases has risen from £7,836.00 to £8,533.00. 

  • The statutory guaranteed payment increase is from £35.00 to £38.00 per day. 

For the full set of limits, see the Increase of Limits Order 2024.

Employment law can be confusing, especially when laws change. Our empathetic team of legal experts are on hand to help with any questions or problems you may have. Get in touch today or make an enquiry to speak to one of our experts.