With multiple new and amended family friendly rights in force from April, it is no surprise that new and updated guidance has been published by the UK Government, Acas and the ECHR.
Flexible working
In addition to publishing a revised Code of Practice on requests for flexible working ("the Code") that applies to requests made from 6 April 2024, Acas have also published new detailed guidance on flexible working to accompany the Code. The Code and guidance cover the changes to the law on statutory flexible working requests (including it becoming a day 1 right) as well as the changes made to the statutory request procedure.
Family friendly rights
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have updated their guidance for employers relating to pregnancy and family leave and pay. The guidance covers pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave and pay, as well as returns to work. While covering topics considerably broader than just the rights introduced in April, the updates relate to the changes to paternity leave, increased protection from redundancy for women and new parents, as well as flexible working requests.
Acas have also published some guidance that focuses solely on the extended redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents.
Carer's leave
New guidance has been published by both Acas and the UK Government on carer's leave. The UK Government guidance is brief but covers the key points. The Acas guidance is also straight forward but provides a bit more detail, including useful examples.
For employers who have not yet updated their internal policies to take into account the recent changes, the new guidance will be a particularly useful resource.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.