The Employment Bill
It is anticipated that the Employment Bill will be published this year, although as yet we don’t have any confirmed dates. It is likely that the Employment Bill will include:
- Right to request flexible working – The Government has recently consulted on proposals to extend the existing right to request flexible working to commence from “day one” of employment, removing the 26-week qualifying service requirement. However, it is unlikely these changes will give employees an automatic right to work flexibly, as the right will remain a right to request flexible working.
- Tips and gratuities – We are expecting to see legislation prohibiting employers in all sectors from making any deductions from tips received by their staff, other than those required by tax law. Employers would also be required to have a written policy on tips and keep a record of how tips are dealt with. There will also be a new statutory Code of Practice on Tipping for employers to have regard to, which will replace the existing voluntary code.
- New single labour market enforcement body – In its response to the consultation concerning the proposal to create a single enforcement body, the Government confirmed that the body will bring three existing bodies (HMRC National Minimum Wage Enforcement, Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI), Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)) into one organisation. protect employment rights and improve compliance. The new body will seek to improve employer compliance, with a particular focus on labour exploitation and modern slavery, national minimum wage, holiday pay and statutory sick pay.
- New right to carer’s leave – this would consist of one week’s unpaid leave per year for those employees with long-term caring responsibilities, to be taken in full or half days.
- Neonatal leave and pay – Parents would have the right to take an additional week of leave for every week their baby is in neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Those with a minimum qualifying period of 26 weeks’ service and who earn above the minimum pay threshold would be entitled to receive pay for the neonatal leave period at the current statutory rate.
- Extending redundancy protection for women and new parents – Protection would apply to pregnant women from the point they notify their employer of their pregnancy until six months after returning to work, and would also apply to those taking adoption and shared parental leave.
New statutory rates of pay
From 1 April 2022, national minimum wage hourly rates will increase as follows:
| Age of worker | Current hourly rate | New hourly rate (from 1 April 2022) |
| Age 23 and over (National Living Wage) | £8.91 | £9.50 |
| Age 21 to 22 | £8.36 | £9.18 |
| Age 18 to 20 | £6.56 | £6.83 |
| Age 16 to 17 | £4.62 | £4.81 |
| Apprentice rate | £4.30 | £4.81 |
In April 2022, the following statutory payments will increase as follows:
| Current weekly rate | New weekly rate (from 3 April 2022) |
|
| Statutory Maternity Pay, | £151.97 | £156.66 |
| Statutory Paternity Pay, | ||
| Statutory Adoption Pay, | ||
| Statutory Shared Parental Pay, | ||
| Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Maternity Allowance | ||
| Current weekly rate | New weekly rate (from 11 April 2022) |
|
| Statutory Sick Pay | £96.35 | £99.35 |
Contact Us
Selene Holden (seleneholden@greene-greene.com ~ 01284 717436)
Greg Jones (gregjones@greene-greene.com ~ 01284 717446)
Angharad Ellis Owen (aeo@greene-greene.com ~ 01284 717453)
Katie Harris-Wright (katieharris-wright@Greene-Greene.com ~ 01284 717442)
For more information on the services offered by Greene & Greene Solicitors please visit www.greene-greene.com and follow on Twitter @GreeneGreeneLaw.
