Are you ready for employment law changes?

A raft of changes to employment law are due to come into effect during 2012, and employers need to be ready for them, according to experts at Withy King solicitors.

Proposed changes for 2012 include:

APRIL

Parental leave entitlement will increase
The permitted period of parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child will increase from three to four months, and at least one of the four months will not be transferable between parents.

Statutory Maternity, Paternity and Adoption pay to increase
The rate of Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Additional Paternity and Adoption Pay and Maternity Allowance will be increased with effect from 9 April 2012 to £135.45 per week. This is a rise of £6.72 a week, which is an increase of 5.2 percent on last year’s £128.73.

Statutory Sick Pay to increase
The rate of Statutory Sick Pay will also be increased with effect from 9 April 2012 to £85.85 per week. This is a rise of £4.25 a week, which is an increase of 5.2 percent on last year’s £81.60.

Increase to lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions will come into force
The lower earnings limit will increase from £102 to £107, which is the minimum an employee must earn in order to qualify for Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Additional Paternity and Adoption Pay, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Sick Pay.

Contracting out of state additional pension will be abolished
Contracting out of the state additional pension on a defined-contribution basis for occupational, personal and stakeholder pension schemes will be abolished as will the rules governing contracted-out rights in schemes.

Qualifying period for unfair dismissal expected to increase
The qualifying period for employees to bring a claim of unfair dismissal is expected to increase from one year to two years continuous service with their employer.

Changes to the Employment Tribunal system will be implemented
Various changes planned for claims submitted to the Employment Tribunal system include:

• The maximum amount of a deposit order, which a tribunal can order a party to pay as a condition to continuing with Tribunal proceedings, will be increased from £500 to £1,000.
• The maximum amount of a costs order, which a tribunal may award in favour of a legally represented party, will also be increased from £10,000 to £20,000 although costs awards are likely to remain a rarity.
• Witness statements will no longer be read aloud and will be taken “as read”, unless the tribunal directs otherwise.
• Tribunals have the power to direct that the parties to a dispute are responsible for paying witnesses’ expenses and that the party who loses the case should reimburse the successful party for any such costs already paid out.
• Employment judges will hear unfair dismissal cases alone in the employment tribunal, unless they direct otherwise, and Judges will hear all cases alone in the employment appeal tribunal, unless they direct otherwise.

SEPTEMBER

Employers’ Duties (Implementation) Regulations 2010 to come into force
The regulations set out the details of employers’ duties under the National Employment Savings Trust pension scheme, which requires employers to automatically enrol staff into a pension scheme and pay a minimum contribution.

Although the legislation is due to be enacted in September 2012 these provisions will be introduced gradually over the next few years.

OCTOBER

Automatic pensions enrolment to be enforced
Employers will have to automatically enrol all employees not already participating in a workplace pension scheme into the employer’s pension scheme or the National Employment Savings Trust pension scheme, providing the employee meets the threshold aligned with the personal allowance for income tax.

Employers will not be required automatically to enrol individuals employed for under 12 weeks. To encourage participation, employees’ pension contributions will be supplemented by employers’ contributions and tax relief.

Although the legislation is due to be enacted in October 2012 these provisions will be introduced gradually over the next few years. For employers with less than 50 employees the changes are unlikely to take effect before May 2015.

The dates and figures given in this article are provisional and based on the most recent available information but may be subject to change following government consultation.

For employment law advice contact Malcolm Gregory on 01793 401052 or at malcolm.gregory@withyking.co.uk