However changeable employment law may be, one thing you can rely on is that many of those employment law changes will take effect in April. The introduction of shared parental leave is the significant development for April 2015, but are you aware of the other changes taking effect in April 2015? Clio Springer reviews this spring’s imminent employment law changes.
1. Shared parental leave takes full effect
The right to take shared parental leave and receive statutory shared parental pay applies to qualifying parents of babies due on or after 5 April 2015. Some employers will have received requests for shared parental leave already.
Mothers can return to work early from maternity leave, or give advance notice that they intend to do so, and share untaken leave with their partner. The critical point for employers is that employees can take their shared parental leave as discontinuous periods, interspersing periods of work with periods of leave. They can also take leave at the same time as each other.
Shared parental leave applies also to adoptive parents.
- Advise an employee on qualifying criteria for shared parental leave
- Webinar: Preparing for shared parental leave
- How will shared parental leave operate?
- What is “discontinuous leave” under the shared parental leave regime?
- Can an employer have a policy of refusing all requests for discontinuous periods of shared parental leave?
- Shared parental leave policy (children expected to be born on or after 5 April 2015)
2. Adoptive parents’ rights are enhanced
Adoptive parents’ rights are to be more closely aligned with those of mothers taking maternity leave.
Currently, to qualify for adoption leave, an employee must have 26 weeks’ service with the employer. From 5 April 2015, this continuous service requirement for adoption leave will no longer apply. Further, the amount of statutory adoption pay will increase and adopters will be entitled to paid time off work to attend appointments to have contact with the child.
- Employment law manual: Adoption leave
- Workflow: Handle an adoption leave and pay request (UK adoption situation)
3. Ordinary parental leave extended
With all the attention focused on the introduction of shared parental leave and pay, it is easy to forget that the right to take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave (which applies to employees with at least one year’s continuous employment) is being extended.
Currently, it applies to parents of children under five unless the child has a disability, in which case the age limit is 18. From 5 April 2015, it will apply to parents of children under 18 in all cases.
4. Major changes to pension rights
Keep track of employment law changes
XpertHR’s legal timetable provides summaries of pending employment laws and regulations, with implementation dates.
There will be a significant increase in the flexibility around accessing defined-contribution or money purchase pensions savings. At present, in most cases, the only option for people in one of these workplace pension schemes is to purchase an annuity.
From 6 April 2015, individuals aged 55 or over will be able to access their pension funds flexibly, subject to their marginal rate of tax. There are different options in how they will be able to do this and it will still be possible to purchase an annuity or receive a pension from an occupational scheme, as under the current rules.
5. Changes to national insurance
As announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2013 Autumn Statement, from 6 April 2015, employers’ national insurance will not be due in relation to employees under 21. The exemption will apply to earnings up to the upper secondary threshold.
- Pay as you earn – further guidance
- Statutory rates: National insurance
- Statutory rates: Income tax rates and allowances
6. Limits on unfair dismissal tribunal awards increase
Other employment law changes in April 2015 include increases in the limits in tribunal awards and other statutory rates. From 6 April, the limits on the amount of compensation that an employment tribunal can award for unfair dismissal increase. So the limit on the compensatory award and the amount of “a week’s pay” for calculating the basic and additional award will rise.
The rise in the limit on the amount of a week’s pay also affects redundancy payments. The maximum guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of a workless day also increases.
- Award limits and amounts payable under employment legislation from 6 April 2015
- What is the unfair dismissal compensatory award?
- What is the unfair dismissal basic award?
- How is redundancy pay calculated under the Employment Rights Act 1996?
- When is an employee entitled to a guarantee payment?
- Worked examples: Calculating entitlement to guarantee payments
7. Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase
From 5 April 2015, the standard weekly rate of statutory maternity pay, paternity pay and adoption pay will increase. Statutory shared parental pay will be payable at the same rate.
- Legal guidance on family-friendly rights
- Statutory maternity pay
- Statutory paternity pay
- Statutory adoption pay
8. Statutory sick pay increases
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From 6 April 2015, the weekly rate of statutory sick pay will increase.
