Twice a year, employers (and employees, for that matter) have to grapple with legislative changes in employment law. The key changes occur in April and October, and employers should always consider whether any of their policies or procedures need updating to reflect those alterations.
What changes can employers expect to face this April? The key changes are as follows:
– an increase in holiday entitlement
– new rates for statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay
– a new rate for statutory sick pay
– repeal of the current statutory dispute resolution procedures
– an extension of the right to request flexible working
– an extension of the right to time off for public duties
So that security managers and their Human Resources colleagues are up-to-speed, let’s examine each of these areas in turn.
Increase in holiday entitlement
From 1 April, statutory annual leave entitlement will increase from 24 to 28 days for those working five or more days per week. This is the final stage of a two-part process to increase statutory holiday entitlement. Currently, employers may opt to make a payment in lieu of the additional four-day entitlement that was introduced on 1 October 2007. However, from 1 April statutory holiday entitlement may not be replaced by a payment in lieu.
Despite the increase in entitlement, there’s still no statutory right for workers to have time off on public holidays. This is an issue that will be dealt with under the terms of the Contract of Employment. Where employers do allow workers to take leave on public holidays, they’re fully entitled to deduct this from a given worker’s statutory leave.
However, the reality is that many workers already receive holiday in addition to the statutory entitlement under their Contract of Employment, and many employers allow public holiday to be taken as paid leave in addition to statutory leave.
New rates for statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay
Statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay will all increase from 6 April. The rates go up from GB pound 117.18 to GB pound 123.06 per week. Eligible employees are entitled to statutory maternity pay at this rate for 33 weeks, statutory paternity pay for two weeks and statutory adoption pay for a period of 39 weeks.
On or after 6 April, eligible employees will be entitled to statutory sick pay at a rate of GB pound 79.15 per week. The current rate is GB pound 75.40 per week.
Repeal of current statutory dispute resolution procedures
The Employment Act 2008 has now received Royal Assent, and will repeal the current statutory dispute resolution procedures. The changes will come into force in April.
Both the statutory dismissal procedures and grievance procedures will go. Employers will be encouraged to comply with the newly revamped ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. Tribunals will have regard to the Code when hearing cases involving disciplinary and grievance issues.
The Code sets out key principles, and is not designed as a substitute for the employer having its own disciplinary and grievance procedures. It’s important that employers have clearly set out procedures. When issuing Terms and Conditions to an employee, an employer is required to specify the disciplinary and grievance procedures that apply to the employee or to inform employees where the documents can be located (such as in a company handbook). Failure to do so can lead to compensation being paid to an employee.
The Code will provide guidance on what is expected from an employer (and an employee) in situations where a disciplinary issue or grievance arises. The Code sets out key principles which will need to be applied by an employer, and stresses the need for fairness and transparency (in addition to the use of rules and procedures) when dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues. Employment tribunals will have regard to what is “fair and reasonable” when deciding cases, and in doing so will consider whether the employer has followed the principles set out in the Code.
The statutory grievance procedures will continue to apply to grievances where the date of the action about which the employee complains took place before 6 April 2009, or started before 5 April and continues after that date, and the employee presents a complaint to the employment tribunal or submits a valid grievance either before 6 July or 6 October 2009, depending on the nature of the claim.
Further information on the Code can be found on the ACAS web site (see the link provided on the right hand panel of this page). ACAS also publishes extremely useful guides on disciplinary and grievance issues.
Other changes under the Employment Act 2008
The other key changes to come into force under the Act in April are as follows:
– Employment tribunals will have discretionary powers to increase or decrease awards by up to 25% where either the employer or the employee unreasonably fails to comply with the new ACAS Code of Practice
– Tribunals will be able to reach a determination without a hearing if every party to the proceedings gives written consent, or if the respondent has failed to present a response or does not contest the claim
– Tribunals will have the power to award compensation for financial loss in certain types of monetary claim – compensation may be awarded in relation to unlawful deduction of wages and an employer’s failure to pay a statutory redundancy payment.
– The existing duty on ACAS to conciliate between parties will be extended to cover the entire proceedings, and until the employment tribunal delivers a judgment – it remains to be seen how effective this change will be as, currently, ACAS continues to conciliate in situations where it considers there’s a reasonable chance of encouraging the parties to settle.
Extension of the right to request flexible working
The right to request flexible working is currently restricted to parents of children under six years of age (or disabled children under 18), and carers of adult (18+) dependants. There is not yet an exact date, but from April the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children up to, and including, the age of 16.
Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system
You may be aware that previous immigration categories have been streamlined into five tiers. In April, Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system (which applies to students) will be implemented. This change is really only of relevance to educational institutions. The major reform with this tier, as with others, is the introduction of sponsorship. UK educational institutions will take on greater responsibility for the individual student in terms of immigration compliance.
Beyond April… what’s going to happen then?
There are several proposed changes on the horizon where the implementation dates have yet to be confirmed.
Time off for public duties
The Government has put forward proposals to extend the right to time off for public duties in order to reflect the types of public duty roles available in today’s society. The proposals include allowing time off for those who help young offenders, aid local courts and help council tenants manage their estates. A consultation has been issued with a view to legislation being passed during April.
National Minimum Wage
The Government plans to change the law in relation to the National Minimum Wage to ensure that tips, gratuities and service charges can no longer be used by employers to count towards payment of that wage. This issue has received quite a lot of publicity – the general consensus seems to be that the proposals would be welcomed.
The National Minimum Wage will increase in October. To date, those increases have not yet been announced.
Right to request time off for training
The right to request time off for training will not come into force until April 2010 at the earliest. The proposals are for the request procedure to be modelled on the right to request flexible working. If the proposals are accepted, employees who have completed 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer will have the right to request time off to undertake relevant training.
The aim is to encourage employers to invest in their employees’ skills as a way of improving business performance. The Government does not intend to specify how much time off employees should be allowed for training, but has indicated that requests for time off ought to be limited to one request in each 12-month period.
The Equality Bill
The Government has confirmed its commitment to an Equality Bill. One of the main focuses of the Bill is to consolidate current discrimination legislation into one Act.
Other key proposals include:
– banning clauses in Contracts of Employment that prevent employees from discussing their pay
– Allowing employers to take into account under representation of a particular group when selecting candidates for appointment or promotion
– Requiring public bodies to report on inequalities in gender, pay, ethnic minority employment and disability employment.
Improving the rights of agency workers
Following the publication on 5 December 2008 of the EC Directive on temporary agency work, agency workers have been given the right to equal treatment in relation to basic working and employment conditions.
The Government is facing increasing pressure to make full use of the three-year implementation period, but it must ensure that the provisions of the Directive are implemented within UK law by 5 December 2011.
Gareth Edwards is a partner in the employment team at Veale Wasbrough Lawyers