Apparently not for the Government…..we have more draft Regulations. This time in relation to discrimination……Introducing the Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 that are intended to come into force on 1 January 2024…starting the new year with a bang – discrimination AND holiday pay!!!
Discrimination
So, what does the Equality Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 actually do:
- It introduces a new right for any person who does not hold a protected characteristic but suffers the same disadvantage because of a provision, criterion or practice as those who do hold the protected characteristic to claim indirect discrimination by association.
- It expands the guidance around the definition of disability to include their ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers. Meaning this will be relevant when looking at whether they are able to carry out “day to day activities” effectively.
- It introduces the idea that in an equal pay claim, the comparator used could potentially work for a different business, provided that the body responsible for setting the terms is the same (Think Local Authority here).
- It expands direct discrimination protection to include a situation where statements are made about not wanting to recruit people with certain protected characteristics, even when there is no ongoing recruitment process or specific identifiable victim to the statement being made. (Big expansion!)
- Confirmation that discrimination on the grounds of breastfeeding would fall within the category of sex discrimination and be protected as such.
So……. Some hot off the press news there from the busy law writers (we like to imagine they do so with a quill…this is unlikely!)
Holiday pay
We can also now give you the detail behind my very excited announcement last week about holiday pay….
These are also set to come into force on 1 January 2024 and will allow rolled up holiday pay, so long as the worker counts as an irregular hours or part-year worker, that the holiday pay is calculated at 12.07% of all pay for work done and that the extra 12.07% is paid at the same time as pay for the work done is made, you will also need to ensure that the holiday pay is itemised separately on the payslip.
They also confirm when calculating holiday pay, (for the first 4 weeks’ annual leave) it must include any commission payments, performance related bonus, payments relating to length of service, seniority or professional qualifications and any regular payments made regularly in the 52-week calculation period (such as regular worked and paid overtime).
The regulations will also make sure that holiday accrued stays in proportion to the time worked (due to some recent caselaw which has caused a few issues), this means irregular hours and part-year workers will accrue leave on the last day of each pay period at the rate of 12.07% of the number of hours they have worked during that pay period (subject to a maximum of 28 days per year).
In addition, there are also new rules on carrying forward holiday. Workers can carry forward holiday where an employer does not recognise their right to paid annual leave (because they have been wrongly classed as self-employed for example), if employers do not give them a reasonable opportunity to take the accrued leave, or where they fail to encourage them to do so or if they fail to warn them of the risks of losing their untaken annual leave entitlement at the end of the holiday year.
Wow – what a lot of useful info! Obviously, these are just drafts at the moment but there isn’t a whole lot of time for them to change too much! We will of course keep you posted!
Finally, and not least at Precept we have our own very special announcement to make………..we have a new staff member to welcome to the Precept team of bonkersness……Introducing Alex MacAskill, who joins us as an Associate. Alex will of course be formally introduced as her alter ego super hero in due course but these things take time for my creative juices to flow…in the meantime, we are delighted to welcome Alex to the team. She has the same common sense approach to her advice, great technical skills (of course) and above all else she has a cracking personality…we cannot wait for you to work with her!
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