2024 Employee Handbook Updates Service

Updating your company’s employee handbook is a crucial task each year. It ensures that your company stays compliant with regulations and reduces legal risks. Additionally, the handbook communicates your company’s values and fosters a strong organizational culture. While templates might seem convenient, they often don’t account for new compliance requirements and workplace trends. We suggest 10 essential updates for employee handbooks for 2024.

2024 Employee Handbook Update Service

Supply us with a Word copy of your handbook or invite us to edit it in your secure Googledocs location.
We will review the time and legislation-sensitive sections of your employee handbook against the 2024 legal update roadmap below.
We will update your handbook to ensure it is legally compliant with 2024 legislation, and will ‘track changes’ so you have an audit trail.
For new laws that are yet to come into effect we will prepare draft policies and email you the final policy when the law takes effect.
We will complete this update in 30 days.

Read about me here and contact me if you have any questions before buying this service.

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2024 legal update roadmap.
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Our 2024 Employee Handbook Updates Service will review and update your handbook in line with the following 2024 legislative changes. For new laws that are yet to come into effect we will prepare draft policies and email you the final policy when the law takes effect.

January 1st, 2024 — Carryover of leave

From 1 January 2024, workers will be entitled to carry over up to 28 days’ leave into the following leave year if:

a worker has been on maternity or other family-related leave;
a worker has been on sick leave (in this instance, the worker can carry over up to 20 days as long as it is taken within 18 months from the end of the leave year in which it was accrued);
an employer refuses to pay a worker their paid leave entitlement;
an employer has failed to give the worker a reasonable opportunity to take holiday or has failed to encourage them to do so; or
where an employer fails to inform the worker that untaken holiday will be lost at the end of a leave year.

January 1st, 2024 – Leave affected by COVID-19

Also from 1 January 2024, workers can no longer accrue COVID carryover leave. This means that any leave that workers could not take because they were affected by coronavirus can no longer be carried over into the next 2 years. Employers should be aware that any COVID carryover leave accrued by their workers prior to 1 January 2024, must be used before or on 31 March 2024.

April 1st — Rolled-up holiday pay

For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, employers will have the option to pay irregular-hours or part-year workers holiday pay that is rolled-up with their normal pay. This means that employers would be able to include an additional amount (12.07% of normal pay) within every payslip to cover a worker’s holiday pay, instead of paying for holiday when a worker actually takes leave.

Changes to the definition of a week’s pay for holiday pay

Employers will be aware that all full-year workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid statutory holiday entitlement per year. The regulations provide that holiday pay for the first 4 weeks of statutory holiday pay (and all holiday pay paid to irregular hours and part-year workers) must be calculated based on a worker’s ‘normal’ rate of holiday pay. From 1 January 2024 the regulations confirm that the following payments must be included in these calculations:

Payments including commission payments which are intrinsically linked to the performance of tasks which the worker is obliged to carry out under their contract;
Payments for professional or personal status relating to length of service, seniority or professional qualifications; and
Payments such as overtime payments, which have been regularly paid to a worker in the 52 weeks preceding the calculation date.

The remaining 1.6 weeks’ entitlement can be paid at ‘basic’ rate of pay, being the worker’s basic remuneration.

April 6th, 2024 – Day-One Flexible Working Rights for All Employees

The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023, effective from April 6, 2024, will revolutionize flexible working by making it a day-one entitlement for all employees. This change eliminates the previous requirement of maintaining 26 weeks of continuous employment before exercising this right. Anticipated additional reforms in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 are expected to further enhance flexibility in working arrangements. You can purchase our Flexible Working Policy, (which incorporates day-one statutory rights to request flexible working).

April 6th, 2024 – Carer’s Leave Entitlement

Commencing on April 6, 2024, employees will be entitled to a week of statutory unpaid leave for caregiving purposes, as outlined in the draft Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024. This new policy introduces essential procedural elements, including minimum usage requirements, notice provisions, and notice duration, providing employees with flexibility and support.

April 6th, 2024 – Enhanced Redundancy Protection

From April 6, 2024, pregnant employees or those returning from maternity, adoption, or shared parental leave will gain priority for redeployment opportunities during redundancies. Building upon existing protections, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 extends priority status to further support employees in these situations.

May 2024 – Fair Allocation of Tips, Gratuities, and Service Charges

Expected in May 2024, new legislation will mandate employers to ensure fair and transparent allocation of tips, gratuities, and service charges among their workers. Employers will need a written policy, and our restaurant employee handbook already includes one. Additionally, employers should use the Excel Calculator for Tronc/Tip Pool Payment Distribution on our support site for efficient record-keeping and archiving for 3 years as required by the legislation.

September 2024 – The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023

Taking effect in Q4, the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 provides employees the right to request a more structured working pattern if their current conditions are excessively flexible and unpredictable. Employers must handle these requests reasonably, considering specific business-related grounds.

October 2024 – Legislation on Employer’s Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment

Starting October 2024, new legislation will require employers to proactively prevent sexual harassment at the workplace, applying to all genders. Employers should review and update harassment policies, offer relevant training, and create a supportive environment.

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