April 2020: Employment law changes
This April, employers must be ready for changes to the right to written statements of terms and conditions, the introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay, and changes to the law on calculating holiday pay for workers with irregular hours, all of which take effect on 6 April.
There are also the usual increases to the national minimum and living wage rates, which increased on 1 April. Statutory maternity pay, paternity pay, adoption pay and shared parental leave pay all increase on 5 April. Statutory sick pay and redundancy payments will also increase on 6 April.
From 6 April, the ability for employers to pay agency workers less than their own workers in certain circumstances, also known as the "Swedish derogation", is abolished. Employers must ensure, therefore, that they pay agency workers who have completed the 12-week qualifying period equally to other directly recruited employees.
Meanwhile, although the Government has suspended enforcement of the gender pay gap reporting deadlines for 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, many employers will have already prepared the data for their third gender pay gap report since the reporting requirements came into force in April 2017. Employers are urged to publish their reports once the coronavirus outbreak has passed.
Finally, the Government has confirmed that reforms to IR35 tax rules, that were due to take effect for employers in the private sector from 6 April 2020, will be delayed until 6 April 2021.
We round up a selection of our updated resources to help employers deal with the April 2020 employment law changes.
Changes to written statements of terms and conditions
- Employment law manual: Written statement of terms and conditions
- Commentary and insights: What is changing in relation to written statements of employment terms?
- Model written statement of terms and conditions of employment
- Model letter confirming details of changes to a written statement of terms and conditions of employment
- Which individuals are entitled to a written statement of employment terms?
Parental bereavement leave and pay
- Podcast: Parental bereavement leave
- Employment law manual: Parental bereavement leave
- Employment law manual: Parental bereavement pay
- Model parental bereavement leave policy
- Model letter explaining to managers the introduction of parental bereavement leave
- How to support a bereaved employee
- Who is entitled to statutory parental bereavement leave?
- What evidence can an employer request to show that an employee is entitled to parental bereavement leave and pay?
- How much parental bereavement leave can an employee take?
Holiday pay for workers with irregular hours
- How should an employer calculate a week's pay in relation to holiday pay entitlement?
- Model holiday policy
National minimum wage
- Statutory rates: National minimum wage
- Model letter advising a worker of a pay increase because of a rise in the rate of the national minimum wage
- Employment law manual: The national minimum wage
- How to review your organisation's pay rates against the national minimum wage
Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay
- Statutory rates: Statutory maternity pay
- Statutory rates: Statutory paternity pay
- Statutory rates: Statutory adoption pay
- Statutory rates: Statutory shared parental pay
Statutory sick pay
Statutory redundancy pay
Agency workers and pay
- How does the exemption under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 operate in relation to workers who have a permanent contract with an agency that provides for pay between assignments?
- Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, are agency workers entitled to the same rights relating to working time and annual leave as direct recruits?
Gender pay gap reporting
- Employment law manual: Gender pay gap reporting
- Model gender pay gap report
- How to measure and report a gender pay gap
- How should employers include bonuses paid to part-time employees when calculating their gender bonus gap?
- What information are employers required to publish under the gender pay gap reporting duty?