Three new laws coming into force this weekend

Three major new laws will come into effect on Saturday - all revolving around employees' rights in the workplace.

They will change how employers deal with flexible working, unpaid leave for staff who are carers and redundancy during pregnancy.

Here, Yahoo News UK sets out what is happening with each change.

Flexible working

At the moment, staff who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more have the right to ask if they can work flexibly.

However, a change in the law tomorrow will make this a right that applies from the very first day of their employment.

This change is happening under the Flexible Working Act 2023.

However, research released last week suggested most employees are not aware of the change in the law.

A survey of 1,000 workers by the conciliation service Acas found seven out of 10 do not know about the change coming into force on Saturday.

Furthermore, a separate survey of 1,000 employers found two out of five are also unaware of the law change.

Unpaid leave for carers

A legal entitlement to unpaid leave for carers has been hailed as a “huge step forward for millions” as it comes into effect tomorrow.

Carers UK said the new law will apply to more than two million workers in England, Wales and Scotland who have unpaid caring responsibilities.

The charity said its past research had found about 600 people a day give up work so they can care, due to a lack of flexibility and support.

Under the Carer’s Leave Act, which comes into force on Saturday, employees who are carers can take up to a week of unpaid leave every 12 months – equating to five days for most people.

Workers are entitled to such leave to give or arrange care for a dependant – not necessarily a family member – who has a physical or mental illness or injury meaning they will need care for more than three months, who has a disability, or who needs care due to old age.

Workplace protection for pregnant women

Under the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023, workplace protection for pregnant women will be extended as of Saturday.

As NHS Employers sets out: "Employees on maternity leave, as well as those on adoption leave and shared parental leave, currently have the right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in a redundancy situation.

"From 6 April, 2024, this redundancy protection is extended to employees who are pregnant, but have not yet gone on maternity leave. Also, the protection is extended to those who have recently returned to work from maternity leave, as well as those who have recently returned from adoption leave and a period of six weeks or more shared parental leave."

Read more

• Why employers need to embrace flexible working for dads (Yahoo Finance UK)

• Unpaid leave ‘huge step forward for millions of carers’ (PA Media)

• Banker bonus gap widens as men awarded more variable pay than women at top financial firms (Evening Standard)