What a year 2022 has been!
We’ve had four chancellor of the exchequers, three prime ministers, lost a wonderful monarch and welcomed a new King, and finally seen an England football team win a major trophy – go Lionesses!
COVID-19 appears thankfully to have started retreating into the rear-view mirror, but we are experiencing the ongoing tragedy of war on European soil and domestically workers striking in many sectors.
So, what about employment matters? Well, a fair bit has gone on in this sphere too…
2022 in review
Real life events and occurrences continue to play a significant role in influencing employment law.
One landmark case in 2022 was Harpur Trust v Brazel. This was a significant ruling which found that it nowhere stated in EU or UK law that holiday should be pro-rated for those who do not work every week of the year.
Based on this ruling, we advise reviewing your contracts and policies on paid holiday entitlement. A 52 week average must be used to calculate holiday pay and part-year workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday, not pro-rated.
Elsewhere, the P&O Ferries redundancy scandal in March 2022 led the government to propose a new statutory code of practice on “fire and rehire”, which is now due to be considered in 2023.
In May 2022, the largest survey to date on how the menopause impacts women in the workplace was published. However, calls to make menopause a protected characteristic have not yet been acted on.
A Scottish employment tribunal in June 2022 found that long COVID was a disability under the Equality Act 2010. With many people suffering from this illness, could it become a more common issue for SMEs?
Other notable issues from the HR world this year include:
- Changes to right to work checks
- Fit note digitalisation
- Further protection for shopworkers
- A ban on exclusivity clauses
- IR35 responsibility remaining with employers
- Two additional bank holidays
Looking forward to 2023
A new year is sure to bring a host of new issues, some we know about and some waiting to surprise us. So, what has been confirmed so far?
We have the usual National Living/Minimum Wage increases on 1st April. Along with statutory payment increases (maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental and parental bereavement leave) and sick pay increases on the 2nd April.
Continuing a royal theme from last year, the government has announced an additional bank holiday to celebrate the King’s coronation on the 8th May. Your employment contracts should act as your primary reference when working out if your employees are entitled to this additional bank holiday.
Also, the revocation of EU retained law will come into force on the 31st December 2023. This could potentially affect bills such as the Working Time Regulations 1998, Agency Worker Regulations 2010 and Fixed Term Employee Regulations 2002.
Beyond this there are, as always, other matters in the pipeline.
They may not all happen next year, but it is good to have them on your radar. You can rest assured that we will bring you detail as it emerges:
- Paid leave for victims of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland
- Minimum service levels for transport strikes
- A new pensions dashboard service
- Statutory code of practice on “fire and rehire”
- Duty on employers to give all tips to workers without deductions
- Protection from third-party harassment
- Leave for carers
- Enhanced protection against pregnancy and maternity discrimination
- Flexible working bill
- Reform of the UK data protection regime
- Neonatal care leave and pay
- Public-sector exit payments repayable
- Time off for fertility leave
- Bereavement leave and pay for stillbirths and miscarriages
Let us know how we can help
From giving you a helping hand recruiting new staff, to leavers checklists and everything in between – our HR experts are here for you.
If you’re looking to get your processes and procedures in order for 2023, get in touch with your local HR Dept.
