Due to the change of government in July 2024, it’s easy to be confused about legislation changes this year. We’ve looked at the details for you, so here’s a rundown of the changes.

National Minimum Wage rates

The National Minimum Wage/living rates are going up on 1 April 2025. If your pay is based on minimum wage rates per hour, you will need to implement these changes:

 

Age group	Up to 31/3/2025	From 1/4/2025
21 and over	£11.44	£12.21
18 – 20	£8.60	£10
Apprentices under 19 (or over 19 but in year 1 of apprenticeship) and under 18s	£6.40	£7.55

Statutory pay rates – From April 2025

Family friendly leave

The rates of Statutory Maternity, Adoption, Paternity, Shared Parental and Parental Bereavement pay will increase to £187.18 per week.

Statutory Sick pay

The rate of Statutory Sick Pay will increase to £118.75 per week.

Statutory redundancy payments

With effect from 6th April 2025, the statutory redundancy pay cap will increase to £719 per week. It’s important to ensure you get up to date compensation information for anyone who leaves due to redundancy on or after this date. You will need to calculate their redundancy pay on the new rate.  If the redundant employee’s normal weekly rate is under the new figure, you should calculate their redundancy compensation based on their actual weekly pay rate.

Statutory Neonatal Care Leave

This statutory leave will allow parents whose babies need hospital neonatal care to take up to 12 weeks’ paid leave, with one full week available for each full week the baby receives neonatal care. This is in addition to their statutory maternity, shared parental or paternity leave. The right will:

• be available from day one of employment
• apply to parents with babies who are admitted to hospital before they are 28 days old and
• apply to babies who need to stay in hospital for 7 days continuously or more.

Leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth, or placement in the case of adoption

Neonatal Care pay will only be available for employees who have 26 weeks of continuous service and who meet the minimum earnings threshold (£125 per week).

This entitlement will be effective from 6^th April 2025.

Employer National Insurance increase

National Insurance Contributions (NIC) rates for employers increase from 13.8% to 15%. In addition, the threshold at which employers start paying NICs will decrease from £9,100 to £5,000 of an employee’s annual salary / wage. This means an additional £4,100 of each employee’s earnings will be subject to Employer NICs. The net result of this will be that more lower paid employees will be subject to Employer NICs.

This change is effective from 6^th April 2025.

Upcoming changes to be confirmed

Pension Scheme Bill

In November 2024, the Government announced it will introduce a new Pension Scheme Bill in 2025. The Bill is expected to include:

• Automatic consolidation of small, deferred pension pots
• A value-for-money framework for Defined Contribution (DC) schemes
• A requirement for occupational DC schemes to offer tailored retirement income solutions
• A commercial Defined Benefit superfund to enhance financial security for its members

It’s expected that a pension dashboard will be introduced in 2025, which will allow people to view all of their pension savings (including state pensions) on one platform. The aim of this is to improve transparency and enable people to have more control of their retirement planning.

Paternity (bereavement) leave

This new right will be a day-one right. The 26-week minimum service requirement for paternity leave will not apply for fathers and partners where the mother has died in the first year after birth or adoption. This also applies to a bereaved parent of an adopted child, or intended parent of a child born through a surrogacy arrangement. In addition:

• These bereaved parents will also be able to take paternity leave
• Where the child also dies (or is returned after adoption) the employee can still take leave

There are also plans for paternity leave to be extended to 52 weeks for these bereaved partners. It is unclear whether the day one right to paternity leave in this situation will extend to paternity pay.

Trade union reforms

Some of the trade union reforms contained in the Employment Rights Bill are expected to come into force in 2025 – removing the following requirements which were introduced by the previous government:

• The minimum service level requirements for certain sectors
• The information and turnout requirements for ballots

The Employment Rights Bill – progress

In line with the plans unveiled in the government’s Employment Rights Bill, future legislation changes have been laid out in general terms and are detailed below. In most cases the date of implementation is to be confirmed, unless stated otherwise.

NB The government have confirmed they do NOT intend to introduce a right to disconnect under the Employment Rights Bill, but it may be implemented under a ‘code of practice’ at some point in the future.

The list of forthcoming legislation changes below includes legislative and non-legislative changes planned.

Unfair dismissal

The two-year unfair dismissal qualifying period will be removed, and be replaced with a new statutory probationary period, referred to as the ‘initial period of employment’ in the bill. The length of this period is yet to be confirmed but is likely to be up to nine months.

Unlikely to be effective before Autumn 2026.

Trade union rights

Consultation has concluded and it’s been confirmed that the process and transparency around trade union recognition will be improved. There will be a new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.

The bill will also simplify information requirements on ballots for industrial action and extend the expiry of a mandate for industrial action from 6 to 12 months.

A further amendment will repeal the 50% industrial action ballot threshold (on a date to be specified in regulations).

Sick pay

There will be a right to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from day one of illness absence, removing what are referred to as the three ‘waiting days’. The requirement for employees to meet or exceed the Lower Earnings Limit (£125 from 1/6/25) will be removed.

Low earners, including those currently paid under the LEL will be eligible for SSP at a rate of 80% of their normal weekly earnings, if less than the flat rate of SSP.

Fire and rehire

Employers’ ability to use fire and rehire will be restricted due to a change to the laws on unfair dismissal. Where employers fail to agree a change to a contract of employment and a ‘fire and rehire’ process is initiated, the dismissals will be treated as automatically unfair unless the employer can show evidence of financial difficulties, and demonstrate that the need to make the change in contractual terms was unavoidable.

In addition, in January 2025 tribunals were able to apply up to a 25% uplift to compensation where the ‘fire and rehire’ process lead to proven unfair dismissal, IF the employer didn’t follow the Code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement, issued by the Secretary of State.

Redundancy collective consultation

Employers will no longer be able to treat redundancies at different locations as completely separate for the purposes of the thresholds for collective consultations. Collective consultation will be required if there are 20 or more redundancies at one establishment, OR where redundancies are being made across the employer as a whole, if a different threshold (to be confirmed) is reached. This new threshold for across the employer as a whole could be a fixed number, or a percentage of the workforce. This is a change to the original proposal.

The maximum protective award will be increased where an employer has failed to comply with collective consultation requirements. Specifics to be confirmed.

Employees who bring a claim for the protective award will also be able claim interim relief via the employment tribunal, and the government is proposing to increase the cap on Protective Awards in collective redundancy situations to 180 days (increased from 90 days) to encourage employer compliance.

Agency and Zero-hours workers

Agency workers will have the right to a guaranteed hours contract to reflect the hours they regularly work. This is likely to be across a set reference period. In addition, agency workers and zero hours contract workers will be given a right to reasonable notice of changes to shifts or working hours. There will be however the possibility of excluding those rights via a collective agreement.

Workers will also have a right to compensation that is proportionate to the notice given for any shifts that are cancelled or curtailed.

The details will be set out in regulations, and subject to consultation.

Flexible working

Flexible working will be the default day-one right, apart from when it is not reasonably feasible. If the employer believes it’s not reasonably feasible, the current eight reasons for refusing the request for flexibility will remain. Employers must explain the reason for a refusal, or why the refusal is considered reasonable, in writing to the employee.

Family leave returners

Forthcoming legislation will make it unlawful to dismiss a woman, while pregnant, and / or on maternity leave, and within six months of returning to work (with some exceptions to be confirmed).

Existing powers are to be strengthened in relation to dismissal in the period a person returns to work from adoption leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave and bereaved partners paternity leave, details to be confirmed.

Paternity and Parental leave

Statutory parental leave (unpaid) allowing parents to take 18 weeks of unpaid leave during the first 18 years of their child’s life) will become a day-one right, removing the requirement for one year’s continuous employment.

Statutory Paternity Leave will be a day-one right, removing the requirement for 26 weeks continuous employment.

Miscarriage bereavement leave

Mothers and their partners will be entitled to two weeks’ bereavement leave if they suffer a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. This extends the current entitlement which applies only if a child dies or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Harassment

There will be a new provision requiring employers not to permit harassment of employees by a third party.  In addition, employers must take ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. This enhances the recent changes in October 2024.

Bereavement

There will be a day-one right to at least one week’s bereavement leave for employees. The circumstances under which this right can be exercised will be confirmed.

Fair Work Agency

A new enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency (FWA) will combine multiple existing agencies, in a single body to enforce employment rights. This will offer a single place where workers can seek help. This body will also be able to bring a claim to an employment tribunal in place of a worker if the worker decides not to pursue a claim. Details of how this would work are to be confirmed.

Tribunals

The time limit for bringing a tribunal claim will increase from three to six months.

Paid carer’s leave

The government confirmed it will review the current statutory Carer’s Leave entitlement, including the benefits of introducing paid carers leave. This review is one of the government’s longer-term delivery reforms.

National Living Wage

The government plan to update the National Living Wage to account for the cost of living, and remove the lower 18-20-year-old age bracket. This is part of a plan to move towards a ‘single adult rate’.

If you’re concerned about what these employment legislation changes from April 2025 mean for your business, please get in touch.

In the workplace, managers and colleagues give feedback to others as part of their normal management and team practices.  Feedback should be constructive, and it’s a valuable process, aimed at improving skills, communication, relationships and success (individual and organisational).

In a study by Christine Porath[1], she found that higher levels of feedback were associated with 89% greater thriving at work, 63% more engagement and 79% higher job satisfaction.  She also found that giving honest, careful feedback and creating a ‘feedback loop’, (where team members provided feedback to each other), created stronger connections, and better relationships at work.  Adding recognition and / or reward in to the mix lead to employees becoming happier and more engaged.

The good and the bad

Provided the feedback is truly constructive, there’s no such thing as ‘bad’ feedback as all feedback of this nature will be valuable.

But if that feedback is not constructive, or not delivered in an appropriate way, I think we can probably call it ‘bad’ feedback, as it will often have the opposite effect of what is desired. i.e., it resulted in a disengaged, demotivated employee, and ultimately damage their success and potentially that of the team.

How to give good feedback

For many years there was a well-known saying linked to giving feedback which was referred to as the ‘**** sandwich’ i.e., say something nice, say something negative and then distract the person with something positive again. It seems this doesn’t work because the ‘negative’ points get lost, with people, understandably, clinging to the positive messages.

Here are our top tips for preparing and providing good quality feedback.

Preparation:

• Be clear what you’re providing feedback about and consider what you want the outcome to be
• Allocate enough time to the feedback session and make sure it’s in a confidential setting without interruptions
• Be factual, specific, kind and objective – describe behaviour / actions / outcomes, not personality, attitude or character
• Provide the context and describe what you noticed.  E.g., “I noticed that your reports have been submitted 2-3 days late on a couple of occasions lately”
• Outline the impact and why it’s a problem
• Write down the key points you want to get across.

The meeting:

• Present your prepared observations
• Be mindful of your body language and tone.  Keep it calm and respectful
• Ask for their perspective of your observations
• Encourage them to explore alternatives – ways to improve next time
• Present feedback as a positive opportunity, not a threat, and include a balance of feedback (i.e., if some things went well, say so)
• Listen actively, show empathy and demonstrate you’re listening – paraphrase and reflect what you’ve heard
• Acknowledge their feelings
• Reaffirm that your intention is to offer feedback to help them improve their performance, and help them progress, develop, grow in their role and the organisation.

Feedback should be given as close to an issue arising to ensure it’s relevant, and to demonstrate that it’s important.  Don’t wait for your next scheduled monthly or quarterly 1-1 to share the feedback.

If you need to give difficult feedback to an employee and you’re not sure how, get in touch.

 

[1] Mastering Community: The Surprising Ways Coming Together Moves us from Surviving to Thriving by Christine Porath 2022

Mental Health Awareness week in the UK is an initiative introduced by the Mental Health Foundation.  In 2023, Mental Health Awareness week is from 15-21^st May and the theme this year is Anxiety.

Anxiety can affect people both physically and mentally. People may experience different symptoms, including increased heart rate, headaches and chest pains.  It can cause people to feel tense or nervous, making it hard to relax and detrimentally affect sleep and concentration.

Mental health is something everyone has, like physical health, and they are connected – you will have noticed physical symptoms of anxiety described above.  Equally, those experiencing physical health problems can experience declining mental health as a result.

Mental health at work

Your employees’ mental health problems have a big potential impact at work, for example:

• Increased absence from work
• Lack of concentration leading to reduced productivity
• Increased accidents at work due to lack of attention
• Increased attrition rates
• Poor morale and low-esteem in the workforce

It is estimated that cost to employers of poor mental health at work cost £56 billion per year [1], consisting of:

• absenteeism cost: £6.1 billion
• presenteeism cost: £24.8-£27.6 billion
• staff turnover cost £22.4 billion

So, if you consider the cost, investing in ways to support good mental health at work seems to be a ‘no-brainer’.

Promoting good mental health at work

Businesses can take small steps to support their employees’ mental health. Here are some ideas:

1. Talk to people in your team and get to know them, so you can notice any changes in their behaviour and demeanour.
2. In your regular 1-1s with your team, ask them how they’re feeling, if they have any worries or concerns, and respond constructively. Normalise that kind of conversation.
3. Encourage your staff to ‘switch off’ out of work, especially when it comes to accessing and responding to emails outside of working hours.
4. When addressing issues with your staff, make sure you deliver difficult messages in a kind and supportive way.
5. Consider introducing an Employee Assistance Programme which offers a confidential counselling support service.
6. If you operate as a remote business, think about introducing more face-to-face interactions with your team, or alternatively review the frequency of video / phone calls.
7. Encourage employees to take physical exercise, whether lunchtime walking or yoga, walking meetings, sponsored challenges, subsidised gym membership, volunteering days or competitive ‘step challenges’ between teams.
8. Introduce a ‘buddy’ system, where a colleague is allocated to an employee as an additional support. This provides another way for them to flag concerns.
9. Train some employees as Mental Health First Aiders, and provide regular training about mental health to all employees and managers.
10. Ensure your managers are meeting their team members regularly and providing feedback to them, not just via an annual appraisal system.

Mental Health problems affect one in four people in any given year [2] so if you have a team of 12 people, 3 of them may be struggling.  If those three employees are absent as a result, then that could have a big impact on your business.

If you would like help with supporting the mental health of your employees, get in touch here.

References:

1 – Source: Deloitte | March 2022

2 – Source: Mind.org.uk

As an employer it’s important to know of any forthcoming employment law changes. Being aware of the changes ensures you can prepare for them and protect your business from any legal claims. Here’s a rundown of the changes taking effect from April 2020.

Introducing parental bereavement leave

An Act passed in 2018 has resulted in the introduction of parental bereavement leave to provide support for bereaved parents. The leave will be available to parents who lose a child under 18, or suffer a still-birth in the later stages of pregnancy.

What is it?

Employees will be entitled to 2 weeks leave, and employees with 26-weeks continuous service will also be entitled to pay at the statutory rate. This leave is separate from the statutory right to unpaid time-off in an emergency, and compassionate leave which is discretionary.

Action to take

Employers should take the following steps, prior to April 2020:

• review your current leave policies and decide if you will follow or exceed the minimum requirements of this legislation;
• review and update policies and handbook to include this entitlement, as well as any other policies which may benefit from this information (for example, any family friendly policies);
• consider if you need to review and update other content in your handbook, and
• review and update your contracts of employment, so they are fit for purpose.

More information

Changes to written statements of particulars of employment

The current law states that written statements must be issued by employers to their employees within 2 months of their start date.  The new law will require employers to give all workers (not just employees) a written statement on or before their start date. In addition the written statements must include:

• the hours and days of the week the worker /employee is required to work, if they are varied and how;
• any details of a probationary period;
• their entitlements to paid leave;
• any details of training provided by the employer and
• other benefits not covered elsewhere in the written statement.

Action to take

Employers should take the following steps, prior to April 2020:

• be aware of exactly what needs to be included in the written statement;
• know about any other information which needs to be provided to employees in writing;
• ensure you have a template statement / contract of employment which is ready to use, should you need to make a new hire and
• review your current written statement / contract of employment to ensure it complies with the new requirements.

More information

Increase in the holiday pay reference period from 12 weeks to 52 weeks

The reference period for calculating holiday pay for workers with irregular hours will change. Employers will need to look back over the past 52 weeks for the purposes of calculating holiday pay.

IR35 changes for the private and public sector

The public sector IR35 reforms will be extended to cover medium and large private-sector employers. This means that responsibility for determining if IR35 applies to independent contractors will shift to the organisation, not the individual. Employers should review whether they fall in to the category ‘medium’ or ‘large’ employer and then review their contractors and pay arrangements to determine how the new rules will affect them.

More information

If you’re concerned about what these employment law changes mean for your business and need help in preparing for them, please get in touch with Helpful HR.

 

 

The ‘gig’ economy has been centre stage recently in the news and has caused confusion around individual’s employment and tax status.

Recent cases

Uber is adamant its drivers are NOT employees. However, an employment tribunal  concluded they are, ‘workers’.  Addison Lee  also had a recent employment tribunal judgement, which came to the same conclusion.

The consequences

These cases demonstrate the pitfalls of getting it wrong, on a large scale. The judgements of the tribunals have definitely provided Uber and Addison Lee with bucketloads of negative PR.  They also have the administrative headache of changing their status, backdated rights to holiday pay and the National Living Wage. There’s also a strong chance that HMRC will collect backdated employer’s tax contributions for all of their newly defined workers.

How to establish status

In order to avoid the same problems as Uber and Addison Lee, employers are well advised to make a proactive and honest assessment of people they hire and ask the following:

• Does the individual work off-site?
• Are they using their own equipment?
• Is there a mutual obligation about you offering work and the individual having to accept work when offered?
• Does the individual regularly work for other companies?
• Can the individual send someone else of their choosing by way of a substitute, to carry out the work?
• Does the individual control how or when the work is completed?

If the answer to one or more of the above questions is ‘no’, the individual you’re hiring is probably not self-employed. If you treat them as self-employed, in the long-term you may very well come up against some difficult and costly issues.

We can help

If you need any advice or support on determining the employment status of individuals working for your company and what it means, get in touch with Helpful HR.