From April 6 2020, employers will need to comply with some key changes that are coming into force, including changes to written statements of terms and conditions, the introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay, changes to the law on the calculation of holiday pay for workers with irregular hours, the usual annual increases in statutory payments, tribunal awards and national minimum wage and changes to the rights of agency workers.

The written statement of terms and conditions must now be provided to employees on or before day one of work with the employer and the requirement to provide this statement now extends to workers as well as employees, (including casual and zero hour workers). It must now include the following new additions:

1. the days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the days and working hours may be variable and how any variation will be determined
2. any paid leave to which the worker is entitled, e.g. maternity leave
3. details of any other benefits provided by the employer that are not already included e.g. life assurance
4. any probationary period, including any conditions and its duration; and
5. any training entitlement provided by the employer, including whether any training is mandatory and/or must be paid for by the worker.

On or after 6 April 2020, bereaved parents have the right to take up to 2 weeks bereavement leave, if they lose a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. They will also be entitled to bereavement pay at a statutory rate, subject to length of service with the employer. Statutory parental bereavement pay will be administered by employers in the same way as existing family related statutory payments, such as statutory maternity pay.

There are the usual annual increases in the rates for statutory sick pay, and statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay; increases to the national minimum wage, statutory redundancy calculation and tribunal awards, please click the link to our new rates and thresholds flyer for more detail.

There will be an adjustment in the way that holiday pay is calculated for those who work irregular hours. Prior to April 2020, average pay was taken over the period of the previous 12 weeks, this will now be calculated by reference to pay in the previous 52 week period.

We will also see the removal of what is known as the “Swedish derogation provisions” which means that all agency workers who have completed a 12 week qualifying period with an organisation, will have the right to be paid equally to permanent staff employed by that organisation. All agency workers will also be entitled to a key information statement that sets out their terms and conditions with the agency.

If you have any questions about these forthcoming changes, please contact the Moorcrofts employment team.