Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay.
The right to parental bereavement leave and pay is expected to come into force in April 2020. The right will allow parents of a child under the age of 18 who has died to take two weeks’ leave. It will be available to the birth parents or those with parental responsibility for the child and can be taken within 56 weeks of the child’s death, in a block of two weeks, or two blocks of one week.
Employees will be entitled to parental bereavement leave from day one of their employment, but there will be a qualifying period of 26 weeks for entitlement to parental bereavement pay.
The government has not yet published the regulations that will finalise the details for the introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay. Once this has been finalised we will update your Company Handbook and send you a revised version for employees to access.
Changes to written statements of employment particulars
As of 6th April 2020 all workers employed on or after this date will be entitled to a written statement of employment particulars on or before their first day of employment. The written statements must contain:
• The hours and days of the week the worker /employee is required to work, whether they may be varied and how.
• Entitlements to any paid leave.
• Any other benefits not covered elsewhere in the written statement.
• Details of any probationary period.
• Details of training provided by the employer.
Changes to holiday pay calculations for workers with irregular hours.
The reference period for calculating holiday pay is changing to 52 weeks from the current 12 weeks average period, where a worker has been employed by their employer for at least 52 weeks. Where a worker has been employed by their employer for less than 52 weeks, the reference period is the number of weeks for which the worker has been employed.
This is only applicable to those workers who receive variable remuneration either because there are normal working hours but the remuneration varies with the amount of work done or the time the work is done, or because the worker does not have normal working hours.
Changes to agency workers’ rights
There are three important changes to agency workers’ rights which will apply from April 6th 2020:
1. Abolition of the Swedish Derogation (sometimes referred to as ‘pay between assignments’ contracts). Previously agency workers could agree a contract which would remove their right to equal pay with permanent counterparts after 12 weeks working at the same assignment. From 6th April 2020, these contracts will no longer be permissible, and all agency workers, after 12 weeks, will be entitled to the same rate of pay as their permanent counterparts.
2. All agency workers will be entitled to a key information document that more clearly sets out their employment relationships and terms and conditions with their agency.
3. Agency workers who are considered to be employees will be protected from unfair dismissal or suffering a detriment if the reasons are related to asserting rights associated with The Agency Worker Regulations.
If you have any questions on any of the above changes, please get in touch with the office: sally.phillips@wardwilliams.co.uk or call 01932 830664.