Employment Rights Bill factsheets published.
The Department for Business and Trade has published ten factsheets covering a significant number of the measures provided for in the Employment Rights Bill, including an overview. The factsheets are a useful one stop shop providing information on the policy intent of the new provisions, how the reforms are intended to work and key statistics. They can be found at Employment Rights Bill: factsheets - GOV.UK.
EHRC Guidance on preventing sexual harassment at work updated with employer checklist.
The recently updated Equality and Human Rights Commission ("EHRC") technical guidance on preventing sexual harassment at work has had an employer checklist and action plan added to it. Focussing on:
- Communicating with staff,
- Controlling the workplace environment to make it as safe as possible,
- Having policies and procedures that ensure organisations know when sexual harassment happens and how to deal with it.
The checklist includes helpful examples of steps organisations can take. The checklist itself refers to "shifts" but can be adapted to be used in any workplace. It also encourages employers to record actions that need to be taken to make the checklist a part of their working practices, and to use monitoring logs to record when the checklist is being used and any changes to an organisation's approach that may be needed. For more on this and the main guidance see Sexual Harassment: the new law and recent EHRC Guidance.
ACAS guidance on sexual harassment published.
Updated ACAS guidance on sexual harassment has also been published that reflects the new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Preventing sexual harassment provides guidance on the actions employers can take and the measures they can put in place to ensure they comply with the new duty. The guidance also includes a list of considerations for employers when they are deciding what steps they need to take.
Statutory Sick Pay and pay during family friendly leave announced for 2025/26
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced the new rates for Statutory Sick Pay ("SSP") and family friendly leave for 2025/26. The new rates are as follows: -
- SSP will increase from £116.75 to £118.75 per week.
- Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental pay and parental bereavement pay will rise from £184.03 to £187.18 per week.
The new rates will begin to take effect from early April 2025.
Real Living Wage rises by 5%
The Living Wage Foundation has announced that the Real Living Wage ("RLW") has increased by 5% (5.3% in London). The RLW is a pay rate that employers can voluntarily choose to pay their workers, not to be confused with the statutory national living wage or national minimum wage. This makes the new UK rate £12.60 per hour and the London rate £13.85 per hour. As a comparison, based on a 37.5-hour week, someone earning the RLW would earn £2,262 more per year than someone earning the national living wage. At the London RLW rate that equates to £4,700 more per year.
Tribunals to have power to uplift or reduce compensation for failure to follow Code of Practice on dismissal and re-engagement
One of the pieces of legislation that failed to pass into law prior to the general election was the draft Order giving employment tribunals the power to uplift or reduce compensation for failure to follow the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement. This legislation has been re-introduced to Parliament and is expected to come into force on 20 January 2025. Tribunals will have the power to reduce or increase the compensation available in claims for a protective award by up to 25% where the Code has not been complied with.
Code of Conduct for Directors published
The Institute of Directors has published a new Code of Conduct for Directors. The code is voluntary and is intended to be a tool to help directors make better decisions and build and maintain the trust of the public. It applies to businesses of all sizes, and anyone fulfilling a director or director equivalent role as well as individual directors. It is structured around six principles of director conduct. These are leading by example, integrity, transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsible business.
