Employment Law Changes in 2023: Make Sure Your Business is Compliant

Rather than new employment legislation coming from the UK Government, changes to the law are likely to be the result of provate members' bills that have Government support. The exceptions are the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which are aimed at the transport sector to address the ongoing industrial action.

Existing flexible working rights will be extended to all employees from day one with a simplified process. The Government's proposals and the bills they are supporting meet a key objective: to remove barriers for specific parts of the workforce, thereby improving career progression as per the policy paper, helping people secure, stay and succeed in higher quality, higher pay jobs published in December 2022.

Forthcoming legislation and what it means for business:

The Carer's Leave Bill - will give those responsible for dependants the right to up to one week's unpaid leave (or up to a week used flexibly). This will be a day-one right. Many organisations already support carers, and this will add to existing entitlements to emergency time off rights, This will mean changes to flexible working policies and practices, therefore briefing (and reminding managers) of their obligations will be necessary.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill Will also change existing arrangements. Employers already find the family leave and right to return to work rights challenging. This bill will extend the right to be redeployed during pregnancy (including miscarriage), maternity and family leave for another six months after that leave. These are important provisions that have to be managed during an employee's family/maternity leave and in restructuring or reduction in workforce exercises.

A private members' bill (from the House of Lords) on Whistleblowing will (if introduced) repeal the current framework in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and introduce broader protection with a bigger range of penalties. This would result in significant changes to whistleblowing and speak-up policies and processes. The bill would create a new body - the office of the Whistleblower - which would be given investigation powers and have authority to order redress.

History repeats itself:

Proposed amendments to the Equality Act to address harassment in the workplace will reintroduce old rights that were repealed some years ago. The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill will extend employers' duties to protection against sexual harassment and reintroduce protection (and businesses' responsibility and therefore legal liability) for third-party harassment.

It will create a statutory duty requiring an employer to prevent sexual harassment of employees and workers.

It will also make the employer liable for the harassment committed by third parties; for example, customer, service users, clients and in an education setting, students. This third-party liability applies to all forms of unlawful harassment; for example, racial harassment, offensive conduct based on age or disability, etc.

Where sexual harassment occurs, as well as enforcement by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, an employment tribunal will be entitled to increase compensation in an individual harassment case by up to 25%.

These are duties to prevent, which means having a policy won't be enough. So, in addition to amending dignity at work policies, organisations must make clear what is acceptable, enforce those standards and be able to demonstrate that action is taken to tackle these issues when they arise.

The retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, also called the Brexit Freedoms Bill, which would sunset the majority of retained EU Law by 31 December, is looking less likely to become law because of the amount of opposition to it and its scope. If enacted, it could change a range of employment regulations including TUPE, working time and fixed-term, part-time and agency worker rights as well as equal pay. How the Government intends to carry forward this legislation remains to be seen; however, it will certainly have a significant impact om UK employment law.

Statutory rates and Compensation Limits: -

Maximum guarantee payments:
- From 6 April 2022: £30 a day (maximum £150, five days in any three-month period)
- From 6 April 2023: £31 a day (maximum £150, five days in any three-month period)
Maximum week's pay for calculating redundancy and unfair dismissal basic award:
- From 6 April 2022: £571
- From 6 April 2023: awaiting next months budget
Maximum basic award for unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy payment:
- From 6 April 2022: £16,320 (30 weeks' pay subject to the limit on a week's pay)
- From 6 April 2023: £17,130 (30 weeks' pay subject to the limit on a week's pay)
Minimum basic award for dismissal on trade union, health and safety, occupational pension scheme trustee, employee representative and on working time grounds only:
- From 6 April 2022: £6,634
- From 6 April 2023: £6,959
Maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal (unlimited for certain automatically unfair dismissals, for example, health and safety or whistleblowing):
- From 6 April 2022: £89,493
- From 6 April 2023: £93,878
Additional award for failure to comply with reinstatement or re-engagement order:
- From 6 April 2022: £14,144 - £28,288 (26-52 weeks' pay maximum)
- From 6 April 2023: £14,846 - £29,692 (26-52 weeks' pay maximum)
Minimum compensation for employees excluded/expelled from trade union:
- From 6 April 2022: £10,132
- From 6 April 2023: £10,628
Failure to allow right to be accompanied correctly:
- From 5 April 2022: £1,088 (two weeks' pay capped at the statutory amount)
- From 6 April 2023: £1,142 (two weeks' pay capped at the statutory amount)
Failure to give written statement of particulars:
- From 6 April 2022: £1,088 or £2,176 (two or four weeks' pay capped at the statutory amount)
- From 6 April 2023: £1,142 or £2,284 (two or four weeks' pay capped at the statutory amount)
Flexible working regulations:
- From 6 April 2022: £4,352 (eight weeks' pay capped at the statutory amount)
- From 6 April 2023: £4,568 (eight weeks’ pay capped at the statutory amount)
- For more details, see The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2021
Contract Claims:
- Breach of contract (e.g. wrongful dismissal)is brought in an employment tribunal, compensation is capped at £25,000 this is unchanged in 2022/23

Family friendly payments: -

Statutory maternity pay (SMP):
- First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at the following rates.
- From 3 April 2022: £156.66 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
- From April 2023: £172.48 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory adoption pay (SAP):
- First six weeks – 90 per cent of employee’s average weekly earnings. Remaining weeks at the following rates.
- From 3 April 2022: £156.66 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
- From April 2023: £1172.48 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory paternity pay (SPP):
- Paid for two weeks.
- From 3 April 2022: £156.66 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
- From April 2023: £172.48 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory shared parental leave pay:
- From 3 April 2022: £156.66 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
- From April 2023: £172.48 or 90 per cent of employee’s weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay:
- From 3 April 2022: £156.66 or 90 per cent of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower.
- From April 2023: £172.48 or 90 per cent of employee's weekly earnings if this is lower.
Statutory Sick Pay:
- From 6 April 2022: £99.35
- From 6 April 2023: £109.40

National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: - From 1 April 2023:
- Workers aged 21-22: £10.18 an hour
- Development rate for workers aged 18-20: £7.49 an hour
- Young workers rate for workers aged 16-17: £5.28 an hour
- Apprentice rate: £5.28 an hour
Workers aged 23 and over: £10.42 an hour (National Living Wage)

Income TAX Allowances 2023/24: For England and Northern Ireland
- Employee Personal Allowance
  - £242 per week
  - £1,048 per month
  - £12,570 per year
- Marriage Allowance
  - £1,260
- Bind Persons Allowance
  - £2,870
- 20% on annual earnings above PAYE TAX threshold and up to £37,700
- 40% on annual earnings from £37,701up to £150,000
- 45% on annual earnings above £150,000
Minimum Auto-Enrolment Contributions:
- Minimum total percentage to be paid into pension = 8% Minimum Employer contribution = 3% Minimum Employee Contribution = 5%
Businesses should review their employee handbooks to ensure their policies and procedures are up-to-date and reflect the current changes. All employees should be informed of these changes and how they impact on their Terms and Conditions of employment. If you require any support or guidance, we are only a phone call away.
National Insurance Contribution Thresholds:
- Click on link below:- it will take you to the Governments website which details the NI Thresholds.