On 12th November 2009 the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 received Royal Assent.  The Act provides the first complete overhaul of apprenticeship legislation for nearly 200 years and brings in a host of new measures to prepare for the country’s long-term economical and social needs and build on the huge rise in school standards over the last decade.

 

• The introduction of a new apprenticeship structure to facilitate the creation of apprenticeship agreements and the provision of apprenticeship certificates.
• Apprenticeship agreements will be a prescribed form.
• The Act also provides that the relationship will be contract of service, not apprenticeship (i.e. they will now be classed as “workers”).

 

The above provisions are due to come into force in 2013 and are key steps towards meeting Ministers’ ambitions that one in five young people will undertake an apprenticeship by 2020. 

 

A more immediate implication of the Act that employers need to be aware of is that it introduces a new right for employees to request time off work to undertake training.  The “right to request” is similar to the right to request flexible working and therefore any requests that are received must be taken seriously and be given appropriate consideration.  The new rights are expected to apply to those employed in businesses with 250 or more employees from 6th April 2010 and to all employees, regardless of the size of their employer from April 2011.

 

If you would like further guidance on how to deal with a request for time off work to undertake training, please contact Jenny Summers on 01404 42359.

 

Disability Discrimination Act Update

As reported last month, under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.

There is now an exception to this duty where an employer does not know about the disability and could not reasonably be expected to know that the individual would be affected in the way they are.

 

This follows the case of Secretary State for the Department of Work and Pensions v Alam where Mr Alam received a 12 month written warning when he left work early without permission and it later came to light that this he suffered from symptoms of depression (he produced a GP certificate) and that the cause of the incident (a lack of concentration) was covered under the DDA. The Employment Tribunal considered that, as the employer was unaware and could not reasonably be expected to know that Mr Alam would be affected in this way, the exemption applied.

 

A new test for determining whether the exemption has been developed and requires that two questions are asked:

1. Did the employer know both that the employee was disabled and that his or her disability was liable to affect him or her?

If no, the following question is asked:

2. Ought the employer to have known that his or her disability was liable to affect him or her?.

 

If you need any advice relating to the DDA or any other discrimination legislation please contact Campbell Ritchie on 01494 451 681 or at Campbell@hradvantage.co.uk.  

£500k Fines for Worst Data Protection Breaches Confirmed

From 6th April this year, organisations responsible for major breaches of personal information security will face fines of up to £500k. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), following years of campaigning for increased powers to enforce the Data Protection Act, will be able to order organisation to pay such fines. The ICO has also asked for jail terms to be introduced for data protection breaches. The consultation on this has been closed but the Government is still considering what action to take.

 

Data protection is now more important than ever, not only in terms of increased security requirements (due in part to the ever increasing amounts of personal data being stored on the internet), but now in terms of increasing punishment to be faced by offenders.
If you are concerned about the protection of personal data in your organisation or if you require guidance on your obligations please contact Jenny on 01494 451 681 or jenny.hourican@hradvantage.co.uk.

Pension Reforms

The Government’s plan to make all employers contribute to their employee’s pensions have taken a step closer as the detailed implementation plans were laid before Parliament on the 13th January. We’ll report these in more detail again month but the major change from the Government’s earlier proposals is that employers with fewer than 50 staff will not be forced to comply until 2016. If you can’t wait fro more information, call Campbell on 01494 478806 or e-mail campbell@hradvantage.co.uk.