Three new HR laws that could be on the future agenda

So to keep you in the know with the latest announcements, here are three potential new HR laws we could expect to land…

A new law that gives domestic abuse victims the right to paid leave

Under a new proposed Bill, the government could grant victims of domestic abuse the right to take two weeks of paid leave.

While some employers may already have a form of leave like this in place, there are no laws on this currently.

A new law on statutory safe leave passed in Northern Ireland in 2022 but hasn’t yet come into effect.

This idea behind the Domestic Abuse (Save Leave) Bill is give those who have experienced domestic abuse the opportunity to make arrangements in relation to a domestic abuse situation.

While this is not a prescriptive list, someone may use this time to find alternative living arrangements, attend counselling, manage childcare, meet with police and so on.

Currently, the initial proposal says there will be a consultation with businesses to understand how this type of leave could work in practice should it come into force.

Introducing a Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

The government is proposing to change the regulations around employing children who are under the compulsory school leaving age.

(The minimum school leaving age is 16 years of age but also applies to 15 year olds who will turn 16 by the end of that summer holiday).

Note: this will apply to England only.

Under these plans, there will be new rules to follow if you do employ anyone under the school leaving age. This includes the following:

• The employee who is under the school leaving age will need to have a permit provided by their local authority. (While some authorities have this in place already, not all do).
• Employment restrictions on a Sunday will be lifted so children can work more than two hours (they’ll be able to work five hours if aged 14 or eight hours if aged 15-16, the same as they can for a Saturday).
• Children will be able to work until 8pm, instead of 7pm.

Proposals for greater protection of whistleblowers

A whistleblower is someone who raises a concern about some kind of wrongdoing in their place of work.

The wrongdoing itself has to be in the public interest (i.e. a wrongdoing that affects others) and can be any of the following:

• A criminal offence
• A failure to follow legal obligations
• A miscarriage of justice
• A health & safety danger
• Damaging to the environment
• An action that conceals any of the above

The existing law currently focuses more on the job and work-related loss the individual has experienced as a result of whistleblowing, rather than addressing the wider impact of the issue or any steps to prevent it from happening again.

But under a new Bill, there are calls for an independent Office of the Whistleblower, designed to protect whistleblowers. This is to set, monitor and enforce standards when it comes to managing whistleblowing cases, investigations, advice and any losses of the whistleblower.

So anyone who does need to report a wrongdoing has an official body they can go through.

Stay tuned for more essential updates…

If you have a query about any recent changes or what could affect your business in the future, don't hesitate to reach out to one our advisers now: