With a new year, and a new decade upon us, you’re probably putting in place your business plans for 2020 and beyond. While doing so, make sure you bear in mind the following key dates, which could impact upon your business activities.
31 January 2020: Brexit
The UK will leave the EU at 11pm. Following exit, there will be a transition period until 31 December 2020 during which EU law will continue to apply in the UK while the future relationship is negotiated.
2 March 2020: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol (Wales)
Alcohol retailers in Wales must charge customers at least £0.50 per unit of alcohol sold. This rule will also apply to alcohol sold as part of a multi-buy or special offer. To calculate the minimum price an alcoholic drink must be sold for, retailers must multiply the unit price of £0.50 by the drink’s strength and volume.
11 March 2020: Government Budget
The Government has announced that its first Budget will take place on March 11. Among other things, in their election manifesto, the Conservative party pledged to raise the threshold for National Insurance to £9,500. See our round-up of Conservative party pledges for other things to look out for.
1 April 2020: Changes to the National Minimum Wage rates
All National Minimum Wage rates will increase, with the rate for workers aged 25 and over increasing to £8.72 per hour.
4 April 2020: Gender pay gap reports
Employers with 250 or more employees as of 5 April 2019 will have a duty to publish, before 4 April 2020, details about the gender pay gap in their company.
6 April 2020: Parental bereavement leave
A new right to parental bereavement leave and pay is expected to be introduced. This will provide parents with the right to two weeks’ leave following the loss of a child under 18, or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Staff with a minimum of 26 weeks’ continuous service will also be entitled to receive statutory parental bereavement pay.
6 April 2020: Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay are expected to increase
6 April 2020 : Statutory sick pay is expected to increase
6 April 2020: Written statement of employment terms
Casual workers (as well as employees) will now be legally entitled to a written statement of the basic terms of their engagement. The statement must be provided on or before their first day of work (the current two month grace period will be scrapped) and must include the following additional information:
- Details of any probationary period;.
- Details of all paid leave;
- Training entitlements and details of compulsory training, including whether the employer will pay;
- Details of all benefits provided, both contractual and non-contractual; and
- Terms relating to any work the worker will be required to complete outside the UK for periods of more than one month.
6 April 2020: IR35 changes
If you are a ‘medium’ or ‘large’ business and hire freelancers to carry out work for you, it will now be your responsibility to determine whether the IR35 tax rules apply to your arrangement with them or not, and if they do, pay income tax and national insurance contributions on their behalf. For full guidance, see our Ultimate guide to the IR35 changes.
8 May 2020: Bank holiday
The early May Bank Holiday has been moved back four days to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day, so it will be on a Friday this year.
We update our content as and when changes occur, to make sure you stay up-to-date with legal developments.
31 December 2020: Brexit transition period ends
The Brexit transition period is due to end at 11pm on 31 December 2020.
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Before joining Sparqa Legal as a Senior Legal Editor in 2017, Frankie spent five years training and practising as a corporate disputes and investigations lawyer at leading international law firm Hogan Lovells. As legal insights lead, Frankie regularly contributes to Sparqa Legal’s blog, writing content across employment law, data protection, disputes and more.