April 2009 – Summary Of Employment Law Changes

Holidays: from 1 April 2009, the final staged increase in statutory holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks (being 28 days for someone working a five or more days a week) comes into force. The transitional provisions allowing "buy out" of the statutory days above 4.0 weeks also comes to an end.

Statutory Maternity Pay: from 6 April 2009, the standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase to £123.06 per week.

Statutory Sick Pay: from 6 April 2009, the standard rate of statutory sick pay increases to £79.15 per week.

Flexible Working Rights: from 6 April 2009, the right to request flexible working is extended to parents of children under the age of 17 (or under 18 if the child is disabled). Prior to this, only parents with children under the age of 6 (or under 18 if the child was disabled) had the right to request flexible working. The position as regards carers remains unchanged.