Recent changes in employment law 2008

 

There are currently no changes in employment law for 2008.

 

 

Previous Changes in Employment Legislation

 

February 2007

Increase in Limits
February 2007 Employment Right (Increase in Limits) order comes into force on 1 February 2007 The order increases the compensatory award limit payable for unfair dismissal from £58,400 to £60,000. The maximum amount of 'a week's pay' for calculating awards for compensation for unfair dismissal or for calculating redundancy payments is increased from £290 to £310.

 

 

April 2007

Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave
Standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay are increased on 1 April 2007 The standard rates are increased from £108.85 to £112.75 per week. Maternity leave changes affecting babies born on or after 1 April All employees, regardless of their length of service, are entitled to up to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave (OML) and up to 26 weeks additional maternity leave (AML) making a total of 52 weeks. Previously, employees had to have 26 weeks continuous service with the Company to qualify for additional maternity leave. Statutory Maternity Pay is payable to qualifying employees for up to 39 weeks (previously 26 weeks). If an employee wants to return to work before the end of their full maternity leave period (52 weeks) they are required to give 8 weeks written notice of the date they intend to return (previously only 28 days written notice was required). During a period of maternity leave, an employee can agree to work for the Company (or to attend training) for up to 10 days, without the loss of a week?s Statutory Maternity Pay, these days are called ?Keeping-in-touch Days?. However, the Company does not have any right to require the employee to carry out any work, and the employee has no right to undertake any work ? it has to be mutually agreed. Adoption leave changes effective from 1 April 2007 Statutory Adoption Pay is payable to qualifying employees for up to 39 weeks (previously 26 weeks). If an employee wants to return to work before the end of their full adoption leave period (52 weeks) they are required to give 8 weeks written notice of the date they intend to return (previously only 28 days written notice was required). During a period of adoption leave, an employee can agree to work for the Company (or to attend training) for up to 10 days, without the loss of a week?s Statutory Adoption Pay, these days are called 'Keeping-in-touch Days'. However, the Company does not have any right to require the employee to carry out any work, and the employee has no right to undertake any work; it has to be mutually agreed.

 

Flexible Working Extension
Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) effective from 6 April 2007 The Work and Families Act 2006 has extends the right to request flexible working to employees who have responsibility for caring for an adult in need of care. To qualify, employees must have 26 weeks continuous service and be the adult's spouse, partner, civil partner or relative, or live at the same address as the adult.

 

SSP and NI rate changes
Rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is increased on 6 April 2007 The standard rate of SSP is increased to £72.55 per week. Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 come into force on 6 April 2007 The Lower Earnings Limit for primary class 1 contributions increases to £87 per week.

 

Information and Consultation Extension
Information & Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 are extended from 6 April 2007 The Information and Consultation Regulations extend to apply to employers with more than 100 or more employees, giving employees of such organisations the right to be informed and consulted about the business they work for, including prospects for employment and substantial changes in work organisations or contractual relations.

 

Pension Consultation
Occupational & Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2006 are extended from 6 April 2007 The Regulations which require employers to consult with prospective and active members of pension schemes before making major or significant changes to future pension arrangements extend to cover employers with more than 100 or more employees.

 

 

July 2007

Smoking Ban in England - All UK now covered
Ban on smoking in the workplace and enclosed public places in England comes into force on 1 July 2007 The Regulations include most workplaces although there are some exemptions. They also cover any work vehicle which is used by more than one person (even if those people use the vehicle at different times, or only intermittently). If employers fail to comply with this legislation this will be an offence and could lead to a fine of up to £2,500. After 1st July 2007, cigarette breaks are still up to individual employers, however all employees will be required to smoke outside. There is however no obligation on employers to provide any kind of shelter, although it is advisable to make sure that if there is a designated area outside it is safe and well lit. The legislation also requires employers to prominently display no smoking signs, at the very minimum at each public entrance to their premises. These need to satisfy certain specifications in respect of size, symbols and wording, details are as follows;- All smoke free premises will be required to display no smoking signs at each entrance that; are the equivalent of A5 in area, display the international no smoking symbol in colour (red and black on a white background), a minimum of 70mm in diameter, and carry the words in characters that can be easily read, 'No Smoking. It is against the law to smoke in these premises'. The words 'these premises' can be changed to refer to the particular premises where the sign is displayed, for example 'this hotel'. There is also a requirement for at least one sign to be displayed in vehicles covered by the legislation. These no smoking signs must simply display the international no smoking symbol in colour, a minimum of 70mm in diameter.

 

 

October 2007

Minimu Holiday Increase
Minimum statutory holiday entitlement increases on 1 October 2007 Workers' statutory holiday entitlement under the Working Time regulations 1998 increases from 4 weeks to 4.8 weeks per year, an increase from 20 days per year to 24 for full-time workers (part time workers are entitled to the appropriate pro-rata amount). Statutory annual leave entitlement will be increased in two phases, rising from 20 to 24 days on 1st October 2007, and from 24 to 28 days on 1st April 2009.

 

Data Protection Act extension
Data Protection Act 1998 covers manual filing systems in existence before 24 October 1998 from 24 October 2007. Manual filing systems in existence before 24 October 1998, are required to comply fully with the Data Protection Directive. The term ?manual filing system? refers to any manual or paper-based filing system that is structured either by reference to individuals or by reference to criteria relating to individuals, in such a way that specific information relating to a particular individual is readily accessible. In accordance with the Data Protection Act, manual filing systems will be required to comply with the eight data protection principles, which cover the protection, processing, use, accuracy, age and transfer of personal data held on an employee?s personal file or on any associated or computerised record.

 

Minimum Wage Increases
National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2007 come into force on 1 October 2007 The national minimum wage will be increased as follows: Workers aged 22 and over (except for workers doing accredited training) increases from £5.35 to £5.52 Development rate for 18-21 year olds increases from £4.45 to £4.60 Development rate for 16-17 year olds increases from £3.30 to £3.40

 

 

February 2006

Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2005 comes into force 1 February 2006
This Order increases the limits applying to amounts awarded by employment tribunals and other amounts payable under employment legislation. The limit on the amount of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases by £1600 from £56,800 to £58,400. The maximum amount of 'a week's pay' which is used when calculating termination payments increases by £10 per week from £280 to £290.

 

 

April 2006

Rate of statutory sick pay will increase on 6 April 2006
The standard rate of statutory sick pay will be increased by £1.85 from £68.20 to £70.05 per week.

 

Standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from 2nd April 2006
The standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase by £2.95 from £106.00 to £108.95 per week.

 

Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2005 will come into force on 6 April 2006 (delayed from April 2005)
The updated TUPE regulations will provide more comprehensive coverage for transfers of service contracting operations such as cleaning, catering, security work and refuse collection; place a requirement on the transferor to notify the transferee of the employment liabilities that will be transferring; give more flexibility in the application of the Regulations in relation to the transfer of an insolvent business; and clarify the circumstances in which employers can make lawful transfer related dismissals and negotiate transfer-related changes for 'economic, technical or organizational reasons'.

 

Commission for Racial Equality's revised Code of Practice comes into force on 6 April 2006
The Code outlines employers' legal obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976, and contains general advice on developing policies to safeguard against discrimination and harassment.

 

Regulations requiring employee consultation on changes to Occupational Pension Schemes comes into force on April 6th 2006
These ensure that employers of more than 150 employees will not be able to make major changes to their pension scheme without first consulting the scheme's members at least 60 days before the changes can be introduced. The regulations will apply to smaller employers in April 2007 (employers with more than 100 employees) and April 6, 2008 (employers with more than 50 employees)

 

 

October 2006

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force on 1st October 2006
The Regulations set a default retirement age of 65, but employers will be under a duty to consider requests to work beyond this age. Employers will only be able to set a retirement age below 65 if it can be shown to be appropriate.

 

National minimum wage will increase on 1st October 2006
The main rate is set to rise from £5.05 to £5.35 per hour and the development rate from £4.25 to £4.45 per hour. These rates may change following advice from the Low Pay Commission in February 2006.

 

Major Fire Reform Regulations
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order was due to come into effect from April. However as the guidance documents supporting the Regulations have yet to be completed, implementation will be delayed until probably October. In brief the reform will place a greater emphasis on fire prevention in non-domestic premises and will lead to the abolition of fire certificates, moving instead to a more "risk-based approach" to fire safety.

 

Corporate Manslaughter Law
New laws on corporate manslaughter will be introduced. They will create a new offence of corporate manslaughter, which would allow organisations to be prosecuted for management failures that lead to the deaths of employees and others. The new offence would apply when an individual has been killed because the senior management of an organisation has grossly failed to take reasonable care for the safety of employees or others. Uncapped fines could seriously damage the financial security of your business, not to mention its reputation.

 

 

March 2005

The Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations
Established new limits on weekly working time, night-time working and continuous work without a break for employees in road transport.

 

 

April 2005

Information and Consultation regulations
As from 6th April employees in organisations with over 150 staff have the right to be informed and consulted on a regular basis about important issues affecting their work. The effect in essence is that 10% or more of employees can request an Information and Consultation agreement or the employer's can begin the process themselves.

 

 

October 2005

Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations
The previous definition of sex discrimination was extended to cover any act that leads to "intimidation" or "degradation" acting to clarify the existing law, with the main effect being that an individual who believes they are being harassed can make a claim that they are being discriminated against.

 

Pensions Act implementation
Pensions rules are changing fast; the first tranche of changes came in during 2005 and more are due shortly.

 

National minimum wage increased
The rate for adults increased from £4.85 to £5.05 per hour and the rate for ages 18-21 increased to £4.25 per hour.

 

 

December 2005

Civil Partnerships
Provided same sex couples in civil partnerships with comparable status to married couples. This impacts on paternity and adoption leave and pay, flexible working, and sexual orientation regulations.

 

Disability Discrimination
The scope of the Act was extended to cover progressive conditions; HIV, multiple sclerosis and cancer, and clarify protection for people with mental illness.