2024 employment law round up…and a look ahead to 2025

Sexual harassment prevention

The most significant legislative change of 2024 was the introduction of the duty to prevent sexual harassment, which came into force on 26 October. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 places a new preventative duty on organisations to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, including harassment by third parties. This represents a substantial shift and requires all businesses, regardless of size, to take the following actions:

• Conduct a thorough risk assessment and implement the necessary measures.
• Undertake a comprehensive review of anti-sexual harassment policies and ensure their widespread publication.
• Provide training to all staff on recognising, preventing, and reporting sexual harassment.
• Notify third parties (e.g. clients, customers, contractors) of your policies and how they will be enforced.

Non-compliance can result in a 25% uplift in compensation for successful claimants. Moreover, recent high-profile cases have highlighted the pressing need for awareness training to create safer workplaces for all employees.

We have developed documents, training, and e-learning resources to support your compliance with this new duty. We also offer in-house and online training for your staff. For more information on our training services, please contact us HERE.

Flexible working changes

April 2024 brought important updates to flexible working regulations. Key changes include:

The process for submitting a request and the eight statutory grounds for refusal remain unchanged.

Protection from redundancy for pregnant employees and parents

Also in April, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 was introduced. The subsequent Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 extend the period when pregnant women and those on adoption leave and/or shared parental leave are protected from redundancy.

These new regulations provide up to 18 months of redundancy protection in some situations, depending on when the employer is notified, and when the leave begins. Employers must offer any suitable alternative vacancies to employees with this protection, giving them priority over others. Failure to comply constitutes automatic unfair dismissal. These new rules are similar to Regulation 10 of MAPLE 1999- where the protection was limited to the duration of the period of leave.

The Employment Rights Bill

In October, the much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill was published, representing the most significant proposed changes to employment law in 30 years.

The good news is that many of those changes are unlikely to come into force until 2026 as they require further consultation, drafting and regulations. However, there is no doubt that they will alter the landscape significantly and we should all be prepared for what the changes will mean. In summary, the key points are:

1. New Six-month limitation period: This is new and snuck its way in via an amendment paper in late November. The time limits for most employment tribunal claims are currently three months less one day from the act complained of (other than for equal pay and statutory redundancy payments). However, under new plans, claimants will have six months to bring all types of claims- such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and unlawful deductions from wages/holiday pay claims. It seems likely that this will mean a significant rise in claims with more time to bring action.
2. Day one unfair dismissal rights: The current two-year qualifying period will be removed, and a new statutory probationary period looks set to be introduced. It appears this will be set between three and nine months (fixed by law). This is not expected to come into force until the autumn of 2026, but work should begin on incorporating and managing probationary periods for all staff and a focus on dealing with issues as they arise.
3. Changes to zero-hours contracts: Contrary to what some have said, zero-hours contracts are not being banned. Instead, the government plans to introduce a right to request predictable hours for such workers. Although the exact detail is not yet known, it would appear that staff on zero and low-hour contracts who regularly exceed a certain number of hours can request a more predictable pattern that reflects the work performed in the previous 12-week period. There will also be new penalties for change or cancellation of shifts at short notice.
4. Changes to fire & re-hire: Under new proposals, it will only be possible to terminate and re-hire on different terms where the employer would be unable to continue operating. This seems likely to be a high threshold and, effectively, outlaws the practice of fire & re-hire except in very limited circumstances.

Additional proposals include:

• Further strengthening of flexible working rights.
• Expanding the duty to prevent sexual harassment requires taking “all” reasonable steps.
• Making paternity and parental leave day-one rights.

Preparing for 2025 and beyond

If 2026 is set to be a year of major change, 2025 will be a year of preparation. Employers should begin reviewing policies, updating training programmes, and adapting internal processes to meet these upcoming requirements.

We invite you to join us for our spring series of webinars starting with our session on managing short-term absence.