We have summarised the new legislation with regards to employment law coming into force on 6th April 2020 below.

Written Statement of Terms
From April 2020, all organisations are required to provide a written statement of terms on or before the first day of employment, rather than within two months of employment starting, as is the current position. Furthermore, this statement of terms must be given to all workers, rather than just employees. The definition of a worker is explained in one of our previous blogs.

In addition to the information that is currently required to be given in the written statement of terms, it will need to contain:

• the days of the week the worker is required to work, whether the working hours may be variable and how any variation will be determined;
• any paid leave to which the worker is entitled;
• details of all remuneration and benefits;
• any probationary period; and
• any training entitlement provided by the employer, including whether any training is mandatory and/or must be paid for by the worker.

The financial penalty for failure to issue a written statement of terms is either two or four weeks’ pay at the employment tribunal. However, it is not a stand-alone claim, it must be tagged on to another claim, for example, unfair dismissal.

Holiday Pay Calculation
From 6th April 2020, the reference period for determining an average week’s pay (for the purposes of calculating holiday pay) will increase from 12 weeks to 52 weeks, or where the employee has been employed for less than 52 weeks, the number of complete weeks for which the worker has been employed.

This means that where employees are entitled to be paid for a holiday based on an average pay calculation, which will be the case in most instances, the calculation should be based on the average earnings in the 52 weeks immediately preceding the holiday.

Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay
The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act 2018, entitles all working parents to two weeks’ paid statutory leave if they lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy, as a ‘day one’ employment right.

The leave can be taken as one block or as two one-week blocks and will be paid at the same statutory rate as other family friendly rights if the employee has 26 weeks service. This will come into force on 6th April 2020.

National Minimum and Living Wage
An increase in the National Minimum and Living Wage will take effect from April 2020. To find out the new rates, please read our previous blog by clicking here.

If you require any further information about this new legislation, please contact us by emailing enquiries@perspectivehr.co.uk or by phoning 01392 247436.