|
Date |
Recent and Forthcoming Developments |
|
1 April 2008 |
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect. |
| 6 April 2008 |
The standard rate of maternity, paternity and adoption pay increased to £112.75 to £117.18 per week provided average earnings are at least £90 a week. |
| 1 October 2008 |
Increase in the national minimum wage (NMW) - for pay reference periods beginning on or after 1 October 2008, the NMW rate per hour for workers aged 22 or above will rise from £5.52 to £5.73; for workers aged 18 to 21, the rate will rise from £4.60 to £4.77; and for workers aged under 18 who have ceased to be of compulsory school age, the rate will rise from £3.40 to £3.53. |
| 5 October 2008 |
The Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 are being amended so that women on maternity leave are entitled to receive all non-pay benefits for their entire leave period. These changes will apply to a woman whose expected week of childbirth (EWC) begins on or after 5 October 2008. The right to request flexible working extended to carers of adults. |
| 27 October 2008 |
The Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 will be amended to ensure that agency workers on contracts of less than three months will be entitled to receive SSP. |
| 27 October 2008 |
Changes to the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) scheme come into force. The amending regulations will reduce the amount of information about SSP that employers are required to provide to employees for social security benefit purposes. |
| End November 2008 |
Tiers 2 (skilled migrants with job offers) and 5 (temporary workers) of the new points-based immigration system will be opened. More details are available on the UK Border Agency website. |
| By end 2008 |
The Education and Skills Bill will oblige employers in England and Wales to release young people for education or training, and check whether a young person is participating in education or training before employing them. It will also raise the age young people stay in education or training. |
| 6 April 2009 |
The Employment Act 2008 (Commencement No.1 and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order 2008 will bring into force the Employment Act 2008 ss 1-7 and Sch. 1, Pt 1 (currently going through Parliament). These provisions will repeal the statutory dispute resolution procedures and related rules on procedural fairness, returning the law on unfair dismissal to the position prior to the procedures coming into force in October 2004. |