There are a number of significant developments due to take place in employment law this year. It is therefore important that employers are aware of the changes that are due to come into effect from April 2023, as well as forthcoming legislation on the horizon that will impact employment rights. Here is a summary everything you need to know:

Increases to National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

The Government has announced the new rates of National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage which will come into effect from 1st April 2023. It is important that employers are correctly remunerating employees in line with the new requirements as follows:

• National Living Wage: £10.42
• 21-22 Year Old Rate: £10.18
• 18-20 Year Old Rate: £7.49
• 16-17 Year Old Rate: £5.28
• Apprentice Rate: £5.28

Increases to Statutory Payments

Employers should also be mindful of changes being made to statutory benefits:

• Statutory maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay increases will take effect from 2nd April 2023. This will rise from £156.66 to £172.48 per week.
• Statutory sick pay will also increase from £99.35 to £109.40 per week.

Increase in the Limits to Tribunal Awards

From 6th April 2023, in accordance with the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023, changes to the current limits on Tribunal awards will come into effect as follows:

• The statutory limit on a week’s pay for the purpose of calculating statutory redundancy payments and the basic award for unfair dismissal will be increased from £571 to £643;
• The basic award for unfair dismissal will be increased from £17,130 to £19,290.
• The maximum compensatory award available for unfair dismissal will be increased to £105,707 (currently £93,878).

Increases to Vento Bands

Revised Vento bands relating to compensation for injury to feelings as a result of discrimination will also take effect from 6th April 2023 following updated guidance that was published by the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals on 24th March 2023. The bands, which apply to claims presented on or after 6th April are as follows:

• Lower Band (less serious cases): £1,100 to £11,200
• Middle Band (cases which do not merit awards in the upper band): £11,200 to £33,700
• Upper Band (the most serious cases): £33,700 to £56,200
• Awards of more than £56,200 can be made, but only in the most exceptional cases.

It is clear that the increases being made to Tribunal awards and Vento bands this year have been driven largely by inflation, therefore, it is important for employers to be aware of the significant increases that are due to take effect in the event that they are potentially exposed to claims being brought against them.

Forthcoming Legislation

Further to the increases taking effect from April, there are also a number of legislative changes in the pipeline which will inevitably have a significant impact on both employers and employees should they become law. Whilst all of the Bills currently making their way through Parliament may not be enacted this year, it is worth keeping an eye on their progress throughout 2023.

Carer’s Leave Bill

If successfully passed, the Carer’s Leave Bill will introduce the right for employees to take a minimum of one week’s unpaid leave per year in order to allow them to provide or arrange care for dependants who have long-term care needs. Dependents are generally considered to be an employee’s spouse, partner, child or parent, or someone who reasonably relies on the employee to provide care for them.

Carer’s Leave will be introduced as a day one right, meaning that no qualifying period of employment is required and there will also be no requirement for employees to evidence how the leave is used, or who it is for. Employees who take carer’s leave will therefore be afforded protection against dismissal and detriment for having taken time off, or for requesting time off for this purpose.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill is currently at Committee Stage in the House of Lords. If passed, it looks to extend the period of protection currently set out by Regulation 10 of Maternity and Paternity Leave Regulations 1999. As such, employees will be protected from the point that they notify their employer of their pregnancy, and until six months after returning from maternity leave. The Bill also proposes to extend the same protections to those who take adoption or shared parental leave.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill

Introduced via a private members’ Bill on 15th June 2022, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill intends to amend section 40 of the Equality Act 2010 in order to impose a duty on employers to take all reasonable steps in order to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The Bill also proposes to further extend safeguarding measures for employees by reinstating liability for employers where they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent third-party harassment.

Furthermore, the Bill proposes to make amendments to section 124 of the Equality Act 2010 to allow for compensation uplifts of up to 25% to be made at Tribunal where preventative duties are breached by employers. The Bill is currently at second reading stage in the House of Lords, but employers should be aware that they will need to ensure that sufficient policies and processes are in place for when this inevitably comes into effect.

The Retained EU Law Bill

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill was announced by the Government on 22nd September 2022. It looks to end the supremacy of EU law in the UK by removing special protections that are currently afforded to EU derived law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The ‘sunset clause’ aims to repeal or revoke all EU derived legislation within UK law by 31st December 2023, however this may be extended to 2026.

This change is thought to affect approximately 2,400 existing Regulations in the UK. From an employment law perspective, this could potentially impact several key Regulations such as:

• The TUPE Regulations 2006
• The Working Time Regulations 1998
• The Agency Workers Regulations 2010
• The Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
• The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004

Revocation of these Regulations could therefore affect employment rights such as the 48-hour working week, paid holiday, rest breaks, protection for equal treatment of part-time workers and agency workers, as well as the protection of employment under TUPE.

Protection for Whistleblowing Bill

The Protection for Whistleblowing Bill was introduced in June 2022 following concerns that have been raised regarding the effectiveness of existing protections for whistleblowers under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. The Bill intends to repeal existing legislation in order and implement increased protections for whistleblowers and uphold the public interest in relation to whistleblowing by establishing an ‘Office of the Whistleblower’. Further to this, the Bill will also create offences in relation to the treatment of whistleblowers and the way in which cases of whistleblowing are handled.

In a climate where we are seeing an increasing amount of whistleblowing cases, it is important that employers are aware of the importance of having adequate measures in place to address these matters. Should this Bill be successfully passed, this could continue to drive up the number of whistleblowing claims, and as such, employers should start to consider whether they have sufficient policies in place to ensure that employee concerns and disclosures are managed correctly.