1st February 2013

New statutory compensation rates (redundancy, tribunals):

• The statutory amount of a “week’s pay” increased from £430 to £450
• The maximum compensatory (statutory cap) award for unfair dismissal increased from £72,300 to £74,200

March 2013

Parental Leave:

• The right to unpaid parental leave for parents with children under the age of five will be increased from 13 weeks to 18 weeks (from 8th March 2013).

• When the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill is implemented, the Equality Act 2010 will be amended.

1. The Equality Act 2010 introduced the concept of third-party harassment, whereby an employer will, in certain circumstances, be liable for the harassment of an employee where it is carried out by a third party, for example a customer or supplier. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will remove the provisions on third-party harassment, which the Government described as unworkable, from the Equality Act 2010.
2. The Equality Act 2010 also sets out the questionnaire procedure that enables an individual who thinks that he or she has been discriminated against to gather information from his or her employer – this will also be abolished.

DSB Checks (formerly CRB):

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) formally CRB checks become portable between employers meaning that a new check is not required each time a person changes employer.

April 2013

• Statutory sick pay increases from £85.85 to £86.70 per week from 6th April 2013.
• Collective redundancy consultation period reduces to 45 days from 90 days where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 100 or more employees from 6th April 2013.
• Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increases from £135.45 to £136.78 per week from 7th April 2013.
• The basic state pension increases from £107.45 to £110.15 per week from 8th April 2013.
• Whistle blowing legislation is to be changed so that a qualifying disclosure must be one that is made in the public interest.
• Employee Shareholder contracts: The Growth and Infrastructure Bill brings into force a new type of contract under which employees are given shares in return for waiving certain employment rights. Employees will receive shares with a value of at least £2000 in return for sacrificing specific employment rights.

So what do all these changes mean for your business?

• Some of the details in your staff handbooks as well as company policies will need updating (such as parental leave and whistle blowing).
• Amendments to payroll calculations will need to now include the revisions to statutory sick pay, and increases to state pensions and statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• Redundancy consultation processes may be considerably shorter if you have 100 or more employees.
• DRB/CRB checks as part of some recruitment processes may result in being more cost efficient for your business – as applicants will now be able to bring along with them documents from previous employers.

Summer 2013

The intention to introduce employment tribunal fees was announced last summer. Final tribunal fee proposals include:
– An issue fee of £160 or £250 depending on the claim
– A hearing fee of £230 or £950
– An EAT issue fee of £400
– A hearing fee of £1200

Tribunals will have the power to order the unsuccessful party to reimburse fees paid by the successful party and a fee remission system will operate for those who cannot afford to pay.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

• A requirement to submit claims to ACAS for possible conciliation before starting tribunal proceedings.
• Power for legal officers to determine claims without a hearing in some cases.
• Employment Appeal Tribunal cases would normally be heard by a judge alone.
• Power of tribunals to impose financial penalties on compromise agreements are being renamed ‘settlement agreements’.
• Cutting the powers and duties of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
• Some changes on unfair dismissal (though this is not discrimination law): power to reduce compensation limits, and easier settlement agreements. The government has also announced rules under which an employee given shares can give up unfair dismissal and other rights.

Other changes which may be implemented during 2013 – date unknown

• TUPE Consultation – the Government are proposing changes in the hope of offering more clarity to employers about whether or not TUPE regulations apply; most notably whether a particular service provision change constitutes a relevant transfer. This change along with others such as pre-transfer dismissals and collective redundancy consultations should give clarity to those involved in TUPE transfers. However the law alone won’t make a successful transfer. The key remains the quality of the engagement and communication with employees.
• Guidance on Religion and Belief in the Workplace.
• Provisions for Equal Pay audits to be ordered by a Tribunal, where an employer has broken equal pay and/or sex discrimination laws related to pay.
• Mandatory pre-claim ACAS conciliation whereby prospective claimants must provide certain information to ACAS, who will endeavour to conciliate a settlement, before a claim can proceed.
• A new tribunal discretion to impose a financial penalty (maximum £5000) on employers breaching rights where there are one or more aggravating features and a new power providing for a change to the current cap on unfair dismissal awards.
• Evidence of pre-termination negotiations conducted with a view to agreeing terms for ending employment will become inadmissible in most unfair dismissal claims, except where the employer has acted “improperly”.

If you would like advice regarding any of the information listed or would like to make a comment about this newsletter please email us at: julie.ware@peoplebusiness.co.uk or call us on 01932 874944. You can also respond at http://people-insight.blogspot.com/