There are several updates coming in this year, which means you will need to keep a close eye to ensure your policies are up to date. 

• Statutory carer’s leave has given eligible employees the right to take up to a week of unpaid leave each year to care for a dependent with a long-term care needs
• If an employee’s newborn baby has been in hospital, they may be entitled to statutory neonatal care leave for up to 12 weeks
• The way you calculate leave entitlement for staff with irregular hours has now changed, so your holiday policy may need to be updated
• The National Minimum Wage has now risen to £11.44 per hour. The age threshold has also lowered, so that 21 year olds are now entitled to the higher bracket
• Statutory sick pay has risen to £116.75 per week
• Maternity, paternity and adoption pay have risen to £184.03 per week
• There are also new flexible working rules which mean your employees can now make a request from day 1 of joining you, can make two requests for flexible working each year and you must consult with employees before rejecting a request
• Employees who have an unstable or unpredictable working pattern now have the right to request a more stable working arrangement. This includes those with casual or zero-hours contracts
• There have also been changes to redundancy rights – obviously you hope never to need to know about this, but it’s important to ensure your redundancy policy is aligned with new entitlements
• There is also a new law set to change in July for managing staff tips – the main thing to be aware of here is that you must have a policy for tips that your team and the public can easily access
• The law on managing workplace harassment will change later in the year, and employers now have a duty to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment – including having a sexual harassment policy.