With employers’ focus firmly on dealing with the serious and wide ranging challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic, it would be easy to forget that in April a number of employment law reforms (largely implemented in response to the Good Work Plan) will come into force, which employers will still need to comply with. By way of reminder, we have summarised in the list below the new requirements that employers must comply with from 6 April 2020:

1. New right to a written statement of terms:

• Current Requirement: Currently, employees who have been continuously employed for more than one month must be provided with a written statement of terms within two months of employment commencing.
• New Requirement: All new employees and workers will have the right to a statement of written particulars from their first day of employment. Additional information will have to be included as part of the extended right.

2. New requirements for written statement of terms:

• Current Requirement: Employees have a right to receive a written statement of terms setting out details such as their continuous employment date, entitlement to holiday, notice period etc.
• New Requirement: For anyone starting work on or after 6 April 2020, statements must also include details of:
• training required or provided by the employer (and whether the employee will need to fund the cost of the training) or a statement that no training is required;
• paid leave to which the worker is entitled;
•  all benefits provided;
•  any probationary period, including any conditions and its duration; and
•  normal working hours / days of the week the worker is required to work.

3. Amendments to agency workers rules

• Current Requirement: The Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (AWR 2010) entitles agency workers to receive the same pay and basic working conditions as comparable direct recruits once they have completed 12 weeks’ continuous service. The ‘Swedish derogation’ currently provides an exemption to the right to equal pay, if agency workers are employed under a permanent contact of employment with the temporary work agency and are paid by the agency for periods between assignments.
• New Requirement:
• From 6 April 2020, the Swedish derogation is removed. Once agency workers have satisfied the 12-week qualifying period, they will be entitled to equal pay to comparable workers who are engaged directly by the employer.
• On or prior to 30 April 2020, agency workers whose existing contracts contain a Swedish derogation provision must be provided with a written notification by the agency that it will no longer have effect.
• In addition, from 6 April 2020 all agency work-seekers must be provided with a key facts statement setting out the terms under which they will undertake the work.

4. Holiday pay reference period adjustment

• Current Requirement: The calculation of holiday pay can be complicated particularly for those with variable hours and variable rates of remuneration. Currently, when calculating holiday pay employers must look back at the average earnings in the previous 12 weeks.
• New Requirement: From 6 April 2020, the holiday pay reference period will increase from 12 weeks to 52 weeks. Employers will be required to look back at the previous 52 weeks where a worker has worked and received pay, discounting any weeks not worked or where no pay was received, to calculate the average weekly pay.

5. Taxation of termination payments

• Current Requirement: Certain termination payments over £30,000 are subject to income tax but are not generally liable to employee or employer National Insurance contributions.
• New Requirement: Certain termination payments over £30,000 continue to be subject to income tax and will also be subject to employer National Insurance contributions. The existing employee NICs exemption will be retained even if the payment exceeds £30,000.

6. Parental Bereavement Leave:

The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 will come into force, giving bereaved parents the right to two weeks’ paid leave following the loss of a child under the age of 18, or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

For assistance with any of the above new requirements please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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