New Employment Laws in May 2023

This past month, four new laws have been given Royal Assent. This means there is still some time before they will be implemented, but now is the time to prepare for the impact these laws will have on your business.

The new laws are:

Carer's Leave Act 2023

This Act will grant employees with caring responsibilities the legal right to take five unpaid days off a year to carry out these responsibilities. This will apply to employees caring for a person who is elderly, disabled or suffering an injury/illness lasting more than three months.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

This Act will allow parents to receive extra time added to their maternity, paternity or shared parental leave in the first 28 days of their baby's life. This is to be used when their baby needs to go into hospital for neonatal care. Parents will be granted at least 7 extra days, increasing by one week for every week that the baby spends in hospital, to a maximum of 12 weeks.

Protection From Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023

This Act will require that employers offer pregnant employees, and those coming back from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave, a suitable vacancy during a redundancy exercise. This protection will be in place until 18 months after the birth or adoption.

The Act will also mean that it may be considered unfair dismissal and discrimination if these employees are not favoured above all others in a redundancy exercise.

Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023

This Act requires that employers pass on any tips, gratuities or service charges to their workers. It will also be a legal requirement for Employers to have a policy that illustrates how they will allocate tips, and keep records of how tips are allocated.

Workers will have a right to see these records and make a claim to tribunal if they believe that the tips are not being allocated fairly.

These laws are likely to come into force in 2024.