Changes to provision of employment particulars

• All workers employed on or after 6th April 2020 will be entitled to a written statement of employment particulars. This requirement to provide employment particulars currently only applies to employees.

• Employees and workers must be provided with their written statement on or before their first day of employment. This triggers the duty of employers to provide particulars significantly earlier than currently required by law, which states that employees must be provided with their particulars no later than two months after their employment begins.
• Written statements from 6th April 2020 will need to contain further particulars than currently required, including:
  • the hours and days of the week the worker or employee is required to work, whether the hours or days can be varied and, if so, how
  • the worker or employee’s entitlements to any paid leave
  • any other benefits not covered elsewhere in the written statement
  • details of any probationary period that the worker or employee will be subject to
  • details of any training to be provided by the employer

Changes to Agency Workers Rights

• After 12 weeks of work, all agency workers will be entitled to the same rate of pay as their permanent counterparts. This will mean that contractual provisions which waive the right of agency workers to equal pay after 12 weeks will not be permitted.
• Agency workers will be entitled to a ‘key information document’, which will more clearly set out the terms and conditions of their relationship with their agency.
• Agency workers who are considered to be employees will gain protection from unfair dismissal or suffering detriment, if the reasons for the dismissal or detriment relates to them asserting rights under the Agency Worker Regulations.

Changes to holiday pay calculations

• The reference period to calculate a week’s pay for holiday pay purposes will be extended from 12 weeks to 52 weeks of work.

Introduction of Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay

• The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act 2018 will come into force in April. This will introduce a right to two weeks’ leave for parents who have lost a child under the age of 18, or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Changes to ICE (Information and Consultation of Employees) Regulations

• Currently, 10% of employees in a workplace are required to make a valid request for an agreement on the sharing of information and consultation in the workplace, before an employer is obliged to take steps to comply with this right. On 6th April 2020 this will be reduced to 2%.