Default Retirement Age to be Axed

The government have confirmed that the default retirement age (DRA) will be phased out this year, meaning that employers will no longer be allowed to dismiss staff because they have reached the age of 65. Employers will not be able to issue retirement notices to employees after 30th March 2011.
Currently an employer can issue an employee with a notice to force retirement at the age of 65 without paying any financial compensation, with the normal legal obligations in place such as a six month previous meeting and relevant notice.

With this change from the government I encourage employers to hold ongoing communications with their staff to establish their plans, since employees will then have the power to decide their own retirement date.

Wondering what Employment Law changes are due in 2011?

Here's a brief guide to pending Employment Law updates due in 2011.

• Default Retirement Age (DRA) - The government has confirmed the phase out the default retirement age. They have announced that the DRA will be axed from October 2011. From this date employers will be prohibited from retiring a member of staff using the DRA. If an employer issues a notification of retirement before 30th March 2011, they will be able to retire the employee if their date of retirement is before 1st October 2011. After this date they can only retire an employee using this method if they can objectively justify it.

• Right to request flexible working extended to parents of children under 18 - From April 2011, the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents with children under the age of 18 years old. Previously this has only been available to parents with children under the age of 17, or under the age of 18 if the child is disabled, and also for employees who care for adults aged 18 or over.

• Equal rights for agency workers - Coming into force in October 2011 will be The Agency Workers Regulations 2010, which will mean agency workers will be entitled to the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks in a job. This will include the basic working & employment conditions, including their pay and holidays.

• Additional paternity leave regulations - From April 2011 employed partners will have the right to take up to six months extra leave, provided the mother has returned to work before using her full entitlement to maternity leave. This regulation will only affect parents with children due on or after 3rd April 2011.

Extra public holiday for William & Kate wedding

With the Royal wedding set to take place on 29th April 2011, we were delighted when the announcement came out that we were all to have an extra day off, whether using the day to celebrate with Kate & Wills or to use as our own. However, are things as straight forward for all businesses as simply giving your staff an extra day off? The answer is in your employment contracts.

I would expect most businesses will offer their employees an additional days paid leave for this public holiday, however for some bigger businesses they will be weighing up what the cost of this will mean for them.

Employees do not automatically have the right to have paid time off on a bank holiday or public holiday, it depends what is written into their contracts or is given at the discrection of the employer.

What will you do?

Are your contracts up to date?

When an owner sets up their business, they will want to make sure they have everything in place for their staff. But as the years go by and everyone is busy dealing with all the regulations that occur with running a business, often they don't revisit the staff employment contracts or handbook. This could prove to be a big mistake.

I have visited many companies and reviewed their employment documents, only to find that they are seven or eight years out of date. During this time there have been so many changes in employment legislation, which include statutory rights for employees that the law says you must provide.

Often a common thing I find is that some companies choose not to issue contracts to staff, only giving offer letters to new employees stating their hourly pay rate and working hours. To make sure that you are legally protecting your business, you need to issue a proper contract of employment that clearly outlines the terms and conditions of the employment, which forms the basis of the employment relationship.

Contracts need to be issued to staff within eight weeks of them starting their employment with you. A contract is made once the offer of employment is accepted. Some statutory rights are effective immediately, although most statutory rights don't apply until the employee has actually started in your workplace. Ideally, the contract should be issued before the new employee starts work.

It's also a good idea to have an employee handbook that you can issue to all staff when they first start working with you. It's a simple practice to put into place, and something that could save you a lot of time and problems in the future. This handbook can outline to all your staff what is acceptable and what is unacceptable at work.

We have come across several companies that have problems with staff smoking or using mobile phones. A handbook is an ideal place where you can put policies into place to help protect yourself from problems such as these.

To make sure that you don't get caught out, I recommend that you review your contracts of employment and employee handbook every year. If you don't have employment contracts or handbooks already within your business and you want to introduce them, you will need to consult with your existing staff and make sure that they understand and agree with the terms that are outlined.

There have been so many changes lately in employment law, it is hard to keep up to date, especially when you have a business to run. And let's face it, Human Resources can be incredibly time-consuming and confusing and not a priority to you when are busy running a company. Having all these practices in place and keeping them up to date could save you from issues arising in the future - and who knows, it may even save you from a costly tribunal!

What's the latest on tribunal figures?

Recent figures are showing that the tribunal service is under increased strain, mainly as a result of multiple claims but also partly due to the changing economic climate.

All in all, UK employment claims are up by over 56% from the previous year. This increase is huge, the main areas of dispute to see an increase are Working Time Directive claims with an increase of 300%, deduction of wages and redundancy pay claims. However despite the dramatic increase in these areas, the classic unfair dismissal case is still topping the charts at a massive 51,000 claims!

Sexual discrimination claims have stayed almost the same, and disability, race, religion/belief and sexual orientation cases have all increased, in line with unfair dismissal claims overall increase. We may well see a rise in equality related claims now that the new Equality Act has come into law.

Unfortunately almost 70% of Employment Claims are successful, twice as many than are unsuccessful. Are you up to date with employment law and protecting yourself from a tribunal claim in the future?

National Minimum Wage Increases Announced

The National Minimum Wage increased as from 1 October 2010. As well as an increase in the NMW, the age at which the full NMW rate is applied will reduce from 22 years old to 21.

The new rates, and amended age bands, will be:
21 and over - £5.93 per hour (previously £5.80 for workers aged 22 and over)
18 – 20 - £4.92 per hour (previously £4.83 for workers aged18-21)
16 and 17 - £3.64 per hour (previously £3.57)
Apprentice under 19, or over 19 in the first year of apprenticeship - £2.50 per hour.

The new Equality Act - a brief guide

The new Equality Act came into force on October 1st 2010. The main provisions of the Act are:

• Protection against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• Clarification of protected characteristics – these are the grounds on which discrimination can occur. This now includes: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage & civil partnerships, Pregnancy & maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex and Sexual orientation.
• Changing the definition of gender reassignment to include an individual who has started, proposes to start, or has completed a process to change his or her gender. The individual does not need to be under medical supervision to be protected.
• Associative & perceptive discrimination
  Associative discrimination means discriminating against individuals who associate with an individual with a protected characteristic. E.G. an employee who cares for a disabled relative.
  Perceptive discrimination means discriminating again individuals who it is thought or perceived to have a protected characteristic.
• New concept of ‘discrimination’ arising from disability
• Ban on pre-employment health questionnaires
• Extended protection from third party harassment, to all protected characteristics
• Making secrecy clauses unenforceable
  

What do you need to do as an employer?

• Review your equal opportunities policy
• Review your application form
• Ensure that your managers and employees are aware of the changes.
• Reduce risk of discrimination in recruitment e.g., have clear job descriptions; ensure that interview questions are related to job/skills.
• Do not issue any further pre-employment health questionnaires.
• Take action if an employee alerts you to 3rd party harassment.
• Ensure that any secrecy clauses are removed from contracts of employment.