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.

So, let’s check out this week’s headlines…

Hybrid working is out, the 4-day week is in!

A huge 62% of workers would rather work a four-day week in the office than have a full five-day week of hybrid working. So, if you’re one of the companies looking to get your staff back in the office full-time, a 4-day working week could help! And it looks like the trend goes both ways…

As 34% of employers say they’d be more likely to consider a 4-day week if it meant staff were on-site.

If a 4-day working week is feasible in your industry it could be a good incentive to get staff back into the office. But if you decide to put it in place, make sure you do so compliantly. Ask BrightHR Lightning: Can I implement a 4-day working week?

The future of the National Minimum Wage

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has launched talks on the future of the National Minimum Wage structure. Currently, employers must pay staff aged 23 and above the National Living Wage. But the Low Pay Commission is proposing that the 2024 National Living Wage should apply to everyone over 21.

The consultation closes on the 9th of June 2023, so make sure to follow the results and see what these potential changes could mean for your payroll.

WARNING! Government to test emergency alerts system

On Sunday the 23rd of April at 3pm, the UK government will conduct a national test of its new Emergency Alerts service.

This will send an alert to mobile phones and tablets causing them to make a siren-like sound, vibrate, or read out the alert for around 10 seconds.

If you don’t have a mobile phone policy in place and your staff have access to their phones during work hours, it might be worth sending email reminders about the alarm. This should minimise any unwanted disruption to your working day.

The gender pay gap results are in!

The government’s gender pay gap service has revealed that the average gender pay gap has stayed at the same level since 2017 and 2018. Meaning the gap is still at 9.4% since employees last published their data. In specific industries like banking and finance, it’s even higher at a rate of 22.1% in favour of men.

If we carry on this way experts suggest it could take over 20 years to close the gap. And businesses could lose out on valuable female talent who decide to seek new jobs at companies with a smaller gap.

Employers should think about the steps they can take to promote gender equality in their business and close the gap.

And that’s a wrap. Tune in next week for more headlines and make sure you stay ahead of major employment law changes!