What can HR learn from 2024?

And what we keep learning is that in times of political instability, the ability to succeed usually boils down to two key things:

1. Staying in the know.
2. Having the tools to protect your business.

Employment law has and always will be unpredictable – so the need to stay on top of the latest updates becomes all the more important.

And as we round up the year, let’s take a look at some key lessons from 2024…

Lesson one: Remember, employment law is entirely unpredictable

We say it time and time again, but employment law is a minefield. A new law comes in and suddenly, you’re scrambling for your company handbooks.

This year saw the biggest overhaul of employment laws we may have ever seen.

When Labour came in, they promised day one rights for staff, new flexible working rights, enhanced redundancy protections, a ban on “exploitative” contracts and much more…

So unless it’s your job to be an HR expert, it’s not going to be clear what a lot of that means in practice. Hence, why it’s handy to have employment law experts working round the clock to make sure you do have the most up to date information at your disposal.

Read more about the major employment law changes of 2024.

Lesson two: Know your worker’s rights

It seems like an obvious one, but it lands many employers in trouble.

It’s good to regularly familiarise yourself with your worker’s rights, so you’re not constantly in doubt if you ever find yourself navigating a tricky staff issue.

When legal updates are constantly coming in, your worker’s rights may be in a constant state of change. So it’s important to try to stay on top of HR and Health & Safety news where you can.

And whenever there’s a change to employment law, you have to update your documents accordingly. If you end up having to make a change to your employee’s written statement of main terms, you have to confirm this in writing within one month of the change. So, that’s important to know.

In the government’s recently unveiled Employment Rights Bill, they announced they would be:

• Banning “exploitative” zero-hour contracts
• Ending fire and rehire schemes that leave working people at the mercy of bullying threats
• Making unfair dismissal protection apply from day one (subject to a statutory probation period)
• Giving more people access to sick pay
• Enhancing the legal protection for pregnant employees

And more.

With so many changes to staff rights, this means changes to your practices and paperwork so you can be in line with new laws.

That’s why it’s important to be aware of how the rights of your workforce have changed and if you have any questions, reach out. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Lesson three: Have watertight, up to date documents (wording is everything)

Check the contract. Check the contract. Check the contract.

It’s a message that needs stamping on every employer’s brain. Because as we’ve mentioned, if ever an employee raises an issue about the terms of their employment, you’ll need to refer to their contract.

Your staff contracts should always be clear about your company’s rules and your worker’s rights. Any confusion about the terms of employment can create big problems for you down the line, so you can save yourself a lot of stress by making sure your documents are as thorough and clear as possible.

And then are the legal updates to consider. One legal change can mean an entire documentation reboot.

So in many cases, it’s not just contracts you need to think about, it’s your written policies. You may need to add a whole new policy to your collection or update your existing documents.

Failing to keep your documents up to date with legal changes will leave you vulnerable to risk. So always make sure to keep any documents you have under constant review.

Lesson four: Think about new ways of working

We’ve seen a rise in flexible working in recent years. During the pandemic, home working became a norm for many people – and the routine stuck.

Some businesses went completely remote and for some job seekers, a job wasn’t worth taking unless they had flexible working as an option.

The previous government put new flexible working rules in place which gave employees the right to make a flexible working request from day one on the job.

And since then, the new government has gone one step further by enhancing flexible working rights even more. Now, Labour have said they want flexible working to become “the default” unless in cases where it’s unreasonable. Meaning, employers will only be able to refuse a request if they can show that their business can’t accommodate it for a statutory reason.

This might mean more employees request flexible working, which they could ask is in the form of:

• Working from home (either fully or some of the week)
• Working compressed hours (for example, working four ten-hour days rather than five eight-hour days)
• Reducing working hours
• Working “flexitime” (choosing when to start and end work within agreed limits)

If working flexibly is something your business can reasonably offer, it may be something to consider as declining a request could open you up for legal trouble unless you can prove you have a statutory reason as to why it’s not reasonable.

Lesson five: If in doubt, ask an employment law expert

The year might have come to an end but as we look ahead to 2025, have a browse of our guides and blogs, covering the most recent legal updates you need to know about…

Browse our blogs

• Find out what’s changing for employee rights - What is the Employment Rights Bill 2024?
• Understand the new law on sexual harassment - How to navigate the new duty to prevent sexual harassment
• Unpack HR takeaways from the Autumn Budget - Budget announcement: what’s new for employers

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