You may already be aware but from 6 April 2020, the way you issue and update contracts for employees will change.
This is part of the Good Work Plan, the response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices in July 2017. This Plan has already seen the introduction of the requirement to issue itemised payslips to every worker, not just to employees. This includes agency staff, casual and zero hours staff, contractors and freelancers who are on the payroll. A payslip should now include, a single, combined amount; or an itemised list of hours worked for different rates of pay as well as Gross Pay before deductions, deductions including tax and National Insurances and then Net Pay.
From April, changes to the law relating to employment contracts will require you to provide greater detail in contracts and to issue them earlier in the process.
Currently, you have to include a section 1 statement covering employment details within eight weeks of an employee’s start date. From April, you will need to issue contracts from day one of employment, no matter on the length of the contract and to all workers not just employees.
After April, you will have to explicitly include:
- Details of any benefits
- Details of training requirements
- Details of paid leave and statutory leave
- Sickness Absence Terms
- Pay Terms
Further changes
| Currently | Post 6th April 2020 | |
| Break in continuity of service | One week or more (except where legislation or local agreements dictates otherwise) | Four weeks or more (except where legislation or local agreements dictates otherwise) |
| Agency Workers Payment | After 12 weeks entitled to be paid the same as permanent employees unless specified contractually where they receive minimum pay between assignments | After 12 weeks entitled to be paid the same as permanent employees |
| Holiday Entitlement | Workers with irregular hours had their entitlement worked out using 12 week average | Entitlement will now be based on the last 52 weeks or the total number of weeks worked so far. |
Parental Bereavement Leave
The new Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act will give all employed parents a day one right to 2 weeks’ leave if they lose a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. Employed parents will also be able to claim pay for this period, subject to meeting eligibility criteria. This is expected to come in from April but is still to be confirmed. You can read more on our blog https://www.fusionbusiness.org.uk/parentalbereavementleave/.
Going Forward
We would advise that you start to bring these changes in for new staff gradually before April’s deadline as failure to do so after this date, could result in tribunal claims.
In the case of TUPE Transfer the process requires further disclosure of information and we would suggest that if you are handling a TUPE case, get in touch with one of the team for guidance by calling 01924 827869.
