• New Employment Law Changes for 2023

    Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year. One thing’s for sure the world of employment won’t be boring with these changes afoot…

    1 April 2023


    New NLW and NMW rates to be applied 1 April 2023
    Workers aged 23 and over (NLW)*

    £10.42
    Workers aged 21-22*

    £10.18
    Development rate for workers aged 18-20

    £7.49
    Young workers rate for workers aged 16-17

    £5.28
    Apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in the first year of the apprenticeship

    £5.28

    Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Adoption/Shared Parental/Parental Bereavement Pay

    Family friendly payment rates to increase, including SMP, SAP, ShPP, SPP and SPBP

    These will all increase from £156.66 per week to £172.48

    6 April 2023
    The SSP rate will be increased:

    SSP will increase from £99.35 per week to £109.40.

    6 April 2023
    The Lower Earnings Limit, the amount over which must be earned to qualify for many employment-related statutory payments, will remain the same at £123.

    6 April 2023
    Compensation limits, statutory guarantee pay and weekly redundancy payments

    (Rates to be confirmed)
    8 May 2023
    Extra bank holiday to mark the Coronation of King Charles

    To be confirmed
    Statutory Neonatal Leave and Pay to be introduced. This will provide employees with up to 12 weeks’ paid leave if their child (aged under 28 days) requires a hospital stay of over seven days.

    To be confirmed
    A new statutory code on “fire and re-hire” to be introduced

    To be confirmed
    Employers to be given a new legal duty to pass on all tips to workers; it will be unlawful to withhold tips, including service charges on credit cards. A statutory code of practice will be introduced to outline how tips should be fairly distributed.

    To be confirmed

    A duty requiring employers to prevent sexual harassment will be introduced, including explicit protections from third-party harassment. The time limit for bringing related claims will be looked at and possibly extended to 6 months.

    To be confirmed

    New law prohibiting confidentiality clauses in contracts or settlement agreements from preventing disclosures to the police, regulated health and care or legal professionals to be introduced.

    To be confirmed

    New law requiring confidentiality clauses to set out their limitations to be introduced

    To be confirmed

    Laws on criminal record disclosures to be amended, reducing the disclosure period for sentences lasting four years or less

    To be confirmed

    Redundancy protection for new and expectant parents to be extended to 18 months from the beginning of leave (maternity, adoption, shared parental) and throughout pregnancy.

    To be confirmed

    New law introducing right for all workers to request a more predictable and stable contract after 26 weeks’ service to be introduced and requiring compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice.

    To be confirmed

    New law to increase break in continuous employment from one week to four weeks to be introduced.

    To be confirmed
    New statutory day-one right to Carer’s leave will provide employees with up to one week (5 days) of unpaid Statutory Carer’s Leave per year.

    To be confirmed
    All current EU-Derived employment law to be reviewed and repealed or retained. Likely to see changes to TUPE, Working Time Regulations and rights of agency, part-time and fixed-term staff.

    To be confirmed
    Regulatory exemptions from requirements such as gender pay gap reporting will be extended to businesses with fewer than 500 employees: currently applies to businesses with under 250 employees.

    To be confirmed
    GDPR will be replaced with a ‘common sense’ data protection system. Further details of the proposed new scheme is yet to be released.

    To be confirmed
    New legislation to be introduced requiring minimum staffing levels during strikes and making it a legal requirement for trade unions to put offers to member vote.

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