Whats New for Employers, New Regulations and Employment Legislation

Date

Recent and Forthcoming Developments

4 April 2010

Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2010

New rates for Statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory adoption pay (SAP) and statutory paternity pay (SPP) come into effect on Sunday 4 April 2010.

6 April 2010

Additional Paternity Leave

Additional Paternity Leave and Pay will enable employed fathers to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave, some of which can be paid if the mother of the child has returned to work.

6 April 2010

Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act

The right to request time to train will be phased in. It will be made available to employees in large businesses with more than 250 employees from April 2010 and extended to all employees from April 2011. The right to an apprenticeship is expected to come into force in 2013.

6 April 2010

Employee Study and Training (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations 2010

These Regulations relate to an employee’s right to request to spend time undertaking study or training. They say that the request must be in writing, be dated and state the last date (if any) when the employee made a request and how it was submitted.

6 April 2010

Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

These Regulations specify that the lower earnings limit for Class 1 National Insurance contributions will increase from £95 to £97 on 6 April 2010.

6 April 2010

Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

These Regulations change the format and content of medical statements, which are now called Statement of Fitness to Return to Work or Fit Note which may include advice on what changes may need to be made to help their work.

1 October 2010

Equality Bill

The Equality Bill was published on 27 April 2009. The Bill:-

allows the Secretary of State to order employers with more than 250 employees to publish information about pay disparities between male and female employees (not to be issued before 2013);

abolishes the list of areas i.e. mobility, manual dexterity, memory etc upon which a disability must impact;

bans secrecy clauses which prevent employees from discussing their wages;

bans discrimination by association in accordance with European case law;

makes it legal for employers to positively discriminate in favour of a person from an under-represented group where candidates are equal – such positive discrimination will be purely optional and in no way an obligation.

1 October 2011

Agency Workers Regulations 2010

These regulations will give agency workers the right to equal treatment with permanent staff on pay, holidays and other basic conditions after 12 weeks in a job.

1 September 2012 and 1 October 2012

Pensions Automatic Enrolment: Employers’ Duties

The Government is introducing four statutory instruments setting out the practical arrangements employers must make to automatically enrol eligible jobholders into a pension scheme.