Oasis re-forming was one of the key ‘will they; won’t they’ stories of 2024. A clear case of ‘definitely maybe’ was resolved with the announcement of a raft of gigs across the country in 2025. Employment law is also facing its own ‘definitely maybe’ moment as it enters the new year. It feels like a fitting time to examine what’s definitely happening in UK employment law this year and what remains a tantalising maybe.
Definitely
- New NMW rates
New rates of National Minimum/Living wage will apply from 1 April 2025:
- Workers aged 21 and over: £12.21 per hour
- Workers aged 18-20: £10.00 per hour
- Workers aged 16 and 17 (and apprentices): £7.55 per hour
- Accommodation offset: £10.66 per day
- New statutory rates
The statutory rates of pay applicable to family leave and statutory sick pay are updated on an annual basis. The new rates, which will apply from 6th April 2025 are as follows:
Statutory maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and parental bereavement pay: £187.18 per week. The lower earnings limit will increase to £125 per week.
Statutory sick pay: £118.75 per week
These figures may be replaced by higher amounts if an employer chooses to offer more, either voluntarily or as required by contract.
- Fire and Re-hire Code of Practice: list of claims to which uplift can be applied extended to include protective awards
When the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement came into effect in July last year, protective awards were notably excluded from the claims eligible for compensation uplifts due to non-compliance. Protective awards, which can be up to 90 days’ gross pay (uncapped), can be awarded when employers fail to meet their collective consultation duties in redundancy situations involving 20 or more employees.
The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment of Schedule A2) Order 2024changes this. It adds protective awards to the list of claims where compensation can be increased by up to 25% for failing to follow a relevant code of practice. This new rule takes effect on 20 January 2025.
For employers, this means that when calculating the financial risk of not complying with collective consultation requirements during redundancies, the worst-case scenario is no longer capped at ‘90 days’ gross pay’ per employee. Employers must now also factor in the potential for a breach of the statutory code on dismissal and re-engagement, which could increase compensation by up to 25%.
Maybe
- Neonatal Leave and Pay
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 received Royal Assent in April 2024 and will ‘definitely maybe’ come into force in April 2025. Eligible parents will be entitled to up to 12 weeks’ neonatal care leave (and pay) if their baby is admitted to hospital up to the age of 28 days for a continuous stay of 7 days or more. The right will be in addition to maternity and paternity leave/pay rights. Whilst we have nothing definitive yet, all the signs are that this new right will come online in April. HR teams should be ready with updated policies to reflect the change.
- Employment Rights Bill (ERB): flexible working changes
The ERB is currently making its way through parliament. Most of the changes included are unlikely to become law until 2026 at the earliest. However, there are some changes which, once the ERB is passed (likely late-Spring 2025), could come into effect pretty quickly. One of these is the planned changes to flexible working. Employers will need to show that any refusal of a flexible working request was ‘reasonable’. The government’s ‘Next Steps’ document indicates that this change will be made ‘immediately’, suggesting it may come into effect soon after the ERB is passed.
- ERB provisions on waiting days for statutory sick pay
The Next Steps documents indicates that the changes will come into effect ‘immediately’ (so again, likely to be during 2025). Briefly, SSP will be payable from the first day of absence. Employees will no longer need to serve three ‘waiting days’ before SSP is payable.
- ERB provisions on increasing tribunal time limits
No enabling regulations are required are required to make the ERB’s proposed changes to tribunal time limits (from 3 to 6 months).
- ERB provisions on third party harassment
Again, no enabling regulations are required for the proposal to extend employer liability for harassment to the acts/omissions of third parties. This means that this could become law during 2025.
As we await both legislative decisions and the chance to belt out Live Forever in a packed stadium, 2025 is already shaping up to be a year of anticipation and change. So, whether you’re an HR professional or just an Oasis fan, keep your eyes on what’s coming next.