First published on Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Last updated on Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Have you heard the latest news?
Welcome to HR Heartbeat, where we give you a rundown of the week's top employment law stories. Stay on the pulse of current trends impacting your business, plus get up-to-the-minute commentaries on all things HR and legal.
NEW proposed rates of family-friendly leave
The Government has published its proposals for pay rates for family-friendly leave for 2024/25.
It has proposed that statutory maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and parental bereavement pay will rise from £172.48 to £184.03 per week.
Take note, these rates are yet to be confirmed! However, it would be highly unusual for these proposals to be changed at this stage.
Read the following articles for more in-depth advice on family-friendly leave:
Suggested Statutory Sick Pay rate for 2024/25
It was also announced that the proposed rate for statutory sick pay for 2024/25 will increase from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.
It’s proposed that the lower earnings threshold, at or above which employees must earn to receive various statutory payments, will remain unchanged at £123 per week.
Again, it’s important to remember these proposals are yet to be confirmed…
For more support on this topic, ask BrightLightning: Do I have to pay sick pay?
The end is finally in strike!
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union agreed to an offer from 14 train companies for a backdated pay rise of 5% for 2022-23.
This means that there will be no RMT strikes until at least the spring of 2024, meaning the end is in sight for travel disruption, at least for a couple of months…
As the agreement does not cover future pay deals, there could be more strike action involving the RMT next year.
Aslef strikes continue…
Whether you’re planning on travelling, commuting to work, or have long-distance staff—mark those December calendars! Sadly, we’re not talking about advent, we’re talking about train strikes.
Disruption continues in the run-up to Christmas as members of the train drivers’ union Aslef continue to strike on the 5, 6, 7, and 8 December 2023. There is also an overtime ban in place until 9 December 2023.
For advice on when train strikes, well—strike! Ask BrightLightning: If my employee does not come to work because of train strikes, is it classed as an unauthorised absence?
Ethnicity Pay Gap statistics
The Office for National Statistics has released figures for 2022 on the ethnicity pay gap.
Based on the median gross hourly rate, some ethnic groups are still earning up to 18.5% less per hour than white employees.
UK-born Black British employees earned more (£15.18) whilst non-UK Black British employees earned the least (£12.95) with UK-born White employees earning £14.26.
White Irish employees had the highest median gross hourly rate (£20.20) which was 40.1% higher than the average White British employee.
Want an easy and fair way to make sure all your new hires are paid equally? Benchmark your salary against any role using BrightHR’s free salary calculator.
And that’s a wrap. Tune in next week for more headlines and make sure you stay ahead of major employment law changes!
