Employment law changes to expect in 2023

The rate of change in employment law exceeds any other area of law and 2023 promises to be no exception.

We set out below some expected changes to employment law and some other areas to watch out for in 2023:

• National minimum wage – the main rate (for those aged 23 or over) will increase from £9.50 to £10.42 per hour on 1^st April 2023. Rates for younger workers and apprentices will also increase on the same date.

• Statutory parental leave payments – statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, parental bereavement and shared parental leave pay will increase from £156.66 to £172.48 per week with effect from 6^th April 2023 (NB: statutory maternity pay is 90% of pay for the first six weeks in most cases).

• Statutory sick pay – will increase on 6^th April from £99.35 to £109.40 per week.

• Changes to the flexible working regime – the right to request flexible working will become a ‘day one’ right, and employees can make up to two requests in a 12 month period. The decision period will be reduced from 3 to 2 months, and there will be no obligation on an employee to state how they believe the change will impact the employer.

• Changes to the law regarding sexual harassment – there will be a proactive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment and employers will be made liable for harassment by third parties.

• Extension of protection in redundancy situations for expectant mothers during pregnancy and parents who return from maternity, adoption and shared parental leave. Employees who benefit from this extended protection will have priority for suitable alternative employment over other employees.

• Introduction of 5 days’ unpaid carers’ leave.

• Changes to the law on holiday pay for part-year workers – following on from the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel (please see our review of last year’s case law for further details about this) the government has announced its intention to change the law so holiday pay for part-year workers is calculated only by refence to periods worked.

• An extra bank holiday on Monday 8^th May to mark King Charles III’s coronation.

No dates have been announced for the implementation of the changes at points 4 to 8 above, and the government is currently consulting regarding holiday pay changes with this consultation not due to conclude until March.

And last but certainly not least…the EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill provides that certain EU laws will be automatically repealed at the end of 2023 unless laws are passed to retain the relevant piece of legislation.  Much UK employment law is derived from EU law, including the Working Time Regulations and TUPE, and the automatic repeal of such legislation would create huge uncertainty for employers.  However, the Bill has attracted widespread criticism and it contains a provision which allows the date for automatic repeal to be extended until 23^rd June 2026.  Whilst predicting what will happen in Westminster is a dangerous game, at present it feels unlikely that legislation such as TUPE and the Working Time regulations will have disappeared by the end of the year.

And there are a number of important cases which will be heard in the higher courts this year – we’ll keep you informed of the decisions in those cases throughout the year..

Barrass Whiting LLP

30/01/2023