Key Employment Lessons from 2024

Recruitment and workforce management isn’t easy, and 2024 presented its fair share of challenges. Navigating the new rules, tighter regulations and a larger social focus on doing the right thing means employers have to stay on top of change and adapt more quickly than previous times.

If you are planning your recruitment and workforce strategy this year, here’s a straightforward look at what Meridian’s experts think are the most significant employment lessons from 2024.

Holiday Pay Rules

Legislative changes started strong last year, with January reforms to Working Time Regulations. The changes aimed to simplify holiday entitlement and pay calculations, clearly demonstrating that emphasis has shifted towards ensuring workers receive fair pay for their time off. For temporary workers, this impacts all hours and earnings of any time that effects the amount they receive when they take holiday.

Key lesson: More than ever, it’s important for businesses to maintain a close relationship with their recruitment agencies, payroll software providers and wider supply chain to ensure compliance with legislative updates. Without this collaboration, businesses can run the risk of potential claims and penalties.

Changes to Civil Penalties

One of the largest employment legislative changes of 2024 was the dramatic increase in civil penalties for companies who employ workers without the legal right to work in the UK. Fines were tripled, with first breaches rising from £15,000 to £45,000 per illegal worker.

With the total number of fines issued reaching over £21million in Q2 2024 alone, it’s no surprise that getting worker classification right played, and will continue to play, a significant role in business operations.

Key lesson: The government’s crackdown has made it clear that employers are accountable for compliance failures regardless of intent. Embedding rigours right-to-work checks into your recruitment process, which are thorough, well-documented, and compliant with Home Office guidance, is vital to avoiding steep penalties and reputational damage.

Predictable Working Patterns

Bear with us on this one. The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill 2023, an amendment of the Employment Rights Act 1996, was anticipated to grant workers and agency workers the statutory right to request more predictable working hours in a number of scenarios.

However, the Employment Rights Bill, published 10^th October 2024, confirmed that the act was repealed. This doesn’t mean the principles within the Bill are no longer relevant. In fact, The Employment Rights Bill includes similar elements, including the requirement for employers to give workers on zero-hours contracts ‘reasonable’ notice of a shift, cancellation or change.

Key lessons: There is an obvious call for workers to have the right to predictable working patterns, and the government continues to place emphasis in this, even with changing legislation. Therefore businesses may need to ensure they have the correct systems in place to closely forecast their labour requirements.

Pay transparency

If you spent more than five minutes on LinkedIn last year, you would have seen the push for employers and recruiters to be transparent when advertising salaries on job adverts. While not disclosing helps companies keep key business information out of the eyes of their competitors, it is hard to ignore the growing evidence that salaries on job adverts addresses pay inequalities. With several US states having passed or considering passing salary range transparency laws, and the EU introducing a pay transparency directive, there is a clear precedent set that could influence UK legislation.

Key lessons: Pay transparency isn’t simply another potential element of legislation that could one day impact your business operations. With job adverts disclosing salaries receiving on average 60% more applicants than those that don’t, it is an important consideration for your businesses hiring strategy. Companies choosing not to disclose salaries on job adverts may risk not only reduced access to talent, but also reputational damage as an employer.

Conclusion

2024 demonstrated that staying ahead in the ever-evolving employment landscape requires more than just awareness – it demands proactive action. It’s vital to partner with experts who not only understand the complexities of employment legislation but also have the systems in place to keep your business both protected and informed. At Meridian Business Support, we ensure our clients stay ahead of legislative changes and mitigate risk through our robust processes. Don’t navigate these challenges alone, work with a team that is proven to know what they’re doing! Contact us today.