Employment update: News in Brief | Autumn 2024

A quick round-up of recent employment law developments.

Guidance on supporting disabled workers with hybrid working

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published new guidance for employers on how to support disabled staff with hybrid working. The guidance is intended to help managers and leaders at small and medium-sized employers understand their legal obligations and the practical steps they can take to best support disabled staff.

Government publishes 2023 report into National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage enforcement

The government has published its 2023 report into National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) enforcement. Enforcement activity during 2022 to 2023 increased, with a number of cases closed and a high level of arrears identified. The agency issued 750 penalties totalling £13.72 million and nearly 12 million workers were reached through targeted communication campaigns.

The National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, a key deterrent for non-compliant employers, saw no new rounds in the 2022-2023 financial year. However, the government has committed to resuming regular naming rounds due to the scheme’s deterrent effect.

Guidance on allocation of tips published

The government has published non-statutory guidance for employers on distributing tips fairly, to coincide with the coming into force of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and the statutory Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips on 1 October 2024.

New government menopause employment ambassador appointed

Women’s health campaigner, Mariella Frostrup, has been appointed as the Government Menopause Employment Ambassador. In the new voluntary role, she will work closely with employers across the UK to improve workplace support for women navigating the menopause. Her primary focus will be to help women stay in work and progress in their careers, despite the physical and emotional symptoms associated with the menopause.

Compensation uplift for failure to follow the code of practice on fire and rehire

The draft Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment of Schedule A2) Order 2024 is due to come into force on 20 January 2025. Under the Order, where there is a failure to follow the statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement, compensation can be increased or reduced by up to 25%. The draft Order was first published in April 2024 and had been expected to come into force on 18 July 2024, alongside the Code of Practice. However, it did not gain the House of Lords’ approval before the general election. The new draft Order replicates the original.

National minimum wage increases

The government has announced the new national minimum wage hourly rates, which will come into effect on 1 April 2025. From then, the National Living Wage will apply to all workers aged 21 and over.

The new rates are as follows:

• 21 and over – £12.21 (up from £11.44)
• 18-20 – £10 (up from £8.60)
• 16-17 and apprentices – £7.55 (up from £6.40)
• The accommodation offset will rise to £10.66 per day.

ONS publishes gender pay gap data for 2024

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released UK gender pay gap information for 2024. The data covers differences in pay between men and women by age, region, full-time and part-time, and occupation. The gender pay gap in April 2024 stood at 13.1% among all employees (down from 14.2% in 2023), 7% for full-time employees (down from 7.5% in 2023) and -3% for part-time employees (up from -2.5% in 2023).