2024 was a busy time in the world of employment law, with the previous government bringing in changes, followed by further updates after the general election. Labour’s Manifesto claimed that ‘Britain’s outdated employment laws are not fit for the modern economy’ and responded with the hotly anticipated Employment Rights Bill, but what does this mean for growing tech companies? In this guest post, expert in employment law, Rhys Wyborn, from Shakespeare Martineau, looks back on the key updates from 2024 and shares what’s to come this year.

Changes to holiday allowance

This time last year there were several changes to legislation in relation to annual leave, which you may have missed. These changes were designed to bring the legislation in line with a busy raft of case law on the issue. Employees can now carry forward unused holidays in certain circumstances; including workers that have been on maternity or family leave as well as sick leave. There was also a change regarding the holiday pay calculation as commission and regular overtime is now to be included as a matter of law. And, from April 1, 2024, there would also be rolled up holiday pay for irregular hours workers. 

Enhanced pregnancy protection

From 6 April 2024, enhanced redundancy pregnancy protection was introduced (Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023). Previously, there was only redundancy protection during the period of statutory maternity leave. However, this was extended to the time that the employee notifies the employer of their pregnancy and that this protection would continue until 18 months after the birth. This enhanced protection gives the right to be offered suitable alternative vacancies in a redundancy process for a much longer time period. 

New flexible working rights

There were new rights effective from 6 April 2024 in relation to flexible working (Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023). This created a day one right for an employee to request flexible working, up to twice in a year, with no need to explain the effect on the business to an employer.  An employer would have to consult with an employee before refusing a request and respond within two months, where previously they had a three-month window. 

Simplifying TUPE

Looking to simplify the consultation requirement of TUPE, there is no longer a need to undertake a process of electing representatives for a transfer where the employer has fewer than 50 employees in total, or when the transfer then impacts fewer than 10 employees (in businesses of any size). 

Preventing sexual harassment 

A significant legislative change in 2024 was on 26 October, where a new duty was introduced to prevent sexual harassment (Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Act 2023). This was essentially a proactive duty for all employers irrespective of size to ensure they take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. This could be conducting a thorough risk assessment, providing training to staff and a review of their policies. It is now seen as best practice to have a separate sexual harassment policy. Non-compliance with this duty can lead to a potential 25% uplift in compensation for a successful claimant. 

Coming next: Employment Rights Bill

The much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill was published in October, and it represented substantial proposed changes. Much of these changes are unlikely to come into force until 2026 as they will need to go through drafting and consultation. However, the proposals are significant, and employers will need to prepare in the coming year to be ready for when the changes are brought into legislation.

The Bill has proposed to remove the current two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal, making this effectively a day one right. This will mean that, upon dismissal, an employer must have shown one of the five fair reasons and that a fair procedure was followed. It appears that a new statutory probation period will also be introduced, but it is not yet confirmed how long that period will be for, so we await further details coming this year. 

Labour is also looking to make changes to fire and re-hire. Looking at the proposals in the Bill, it would only be possible to terminate and re-hire on different terms where the employer may not be able to continue operating. While this is not an outright ban, this appears to be a high threshold to meet and is effectively removing the concept of fire and re-hire, except in very narrow circumstances. 

The government has proposed to increase the current limitation period of three months less a day, to six months. This could have a big impact on the volume of tribunal claims and further consultation is likely to be required before any changes are implemented. 

In addition to these changes, the new government is looking to further strengthen protections for pregnant employees and new mothers from dismissal. And paternity and parental leave are set to become day one rights.

Under the Equality Act, employers will need to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment and introduces a liability for third party harassment on employers. Furthermore, the government is looking to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, but further consultation is needed to see how these changes will operate in practice.  Zero-hours contracts are not being abolished altogether but there will be tighter controls and rules over how they are used.

Devil is in the detail 

There were many changes for employers to consider in 2024, and 2025 promises to be even busier. This year there will be more substantive details around the proposed changes as consultation progresses and with this in mind, employers should be looking at reviewing policies, conducting training and making any relevant changes to internal processes to ensure they are prepared for the changes to come. 

For more information, advice and guidance, contact Rhys.Wyborn@shma.co.uk.