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Employment Legislation

Keeping up to date with changes in employment law and considering the impact they may have on our both our clients and agencies is of utmost important to de Poel.

With this in mind we have a dedicated, on-site legal department to monitor any changes in the law and ensure that Service Agreements are regularly reviewed in line with new legislation. The legal team play a pivotal role in keeping abreast of government plans which may have a direct impact on working legislation. They also work closely with clients, recruitment agencies and professional bodies, offering their knowledge and expertise to reduce the risk of litigation and legal exposure.

	Summarises the main changes to employment law in 2007
	Looks at the major changes expected in 2008.

From January

	Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union on 1 January, but Bulgarians and Romanians still need a work permit to work in the UK.
	Parts of the Companies Act 2006 came into force. .

From February

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2006 (SI 2006/3045) – came into force on 1 February 2007. The maximum compensation in an unfair dismissal case increased to £60,600. The maximum weekly pay to be taken into account when calculating statutory redundancy payments and the basic award in unfair dismissal claims increased to £310.

From April

	Working families – the enhanced maternity and adoption rights under the Work and Families Act 2006 applied where the expected week of childbirth or the date of adoption was on or after 1 April 2007.
	Statutory maternity/paternity/adoption pay– from 1 April 2007, the flat rates for SMP, maternity allowance (MA), SPP and SAP were increased to £112.75 per week (or 90% of average weekly earnings if less).
	Smoking at work – under the Health Act 2006, workplaces in Wales became smoke-free from 2 April 2007 and in Northern Ireland from 30 April.2007.
	Carers of adults have the right to request flexible working (also introduced by the Work and Families Act 2006) – from 6 April 2007.
	Definition of ‘religion or belief’ in discrimination cases was extended to include being of no religion or belief (part of the Equality Act 2006) – from 6 April 2007.
	The ‘gender equality duty’ (also part of the Equality Act 2006) required all public authorities to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment as well as promote equality of opportunity for men and women – from 6 April 2007.
	Employers with 100 or more employees had additional duties to consult their employees under the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3426) and the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers) (Modification for Multi-employer Schemes) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/16) – from 6 April 2007.
	Statutory sick pay – from 6 April 2007, the flat rate for SSP increased to £72.55 per week.

From July

Smoking at work – from 1 July, under the Health Act 2006, workplaces in England became smoke-free. The smoking ban now applies throughout the UK and all employers have to provide smoke-free workplaces for employees.

From October

	Statutory holiday entitlement increased from 4 weeks (20 days) to 4.8 weeks (24 days) to implement the Work and Families Act 2006 commitment to make paid time off for bank holidays additional to holiday entitlement. From 1 April 2009, the second phase will increase statutory holiday entitlement to 5.6 weeks (28 days). These entitlements are for full-time staff; they are pro-rata for those working part-time.
	The new Equality and Human Rights Commission - created by the Equality Act 2006 took over from the various separate organisations to provide a single equality body working against all forms of discrimination.
	The right to request flexible working was extended to private foster carers and people with residence orders, and the definition of 'adopter' was widened.
	All remaining provisions of The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force - requiring all manual filing systems which existed before 24 October 1998 to comply.
	The national minimum wage increased to £5.52 per hour. The development rate for 18 to 21 year olds increased to £4.60, and for 16 to 17 year olds to £3.40.
	More sections of the Companies Act 2006 came into force.

Employment-related Acts passed by Parliament

	Welfare Reform Act 2007- received Royal Assent on 3 May. Includes measures to encourage people into work and reform of incapacity benefits from 2008.
	Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007- received Royal Assent on 19 July. Includes a wide range of proposals to reform the tribunals system in England and Wales.
	Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007- received Royal Assent on 26 July. Will create a new offence of corporate manslaughter from April 2008 (corporate homicide in Scotland).
	Pensions Act 2007 - received Royal Assent on 26 July. Will take forward the findings of the National Pensions debate and many of the proposals announced in the White Paper published in October 2006.

Other developments

	Findings of the Gibbon review of employment dispute resolution were published in March and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry) have consulted on how to improve the way employment disputes are resolved while preserving existing employees' rights.
	The Equalities Review final report was published in February. Together with the Discrimination Law Review, and government consultation exercise over Summer 2007, it will inform proposals for a Single Equality Act which the Government plan to introduce.

Main changes expected in 2008

While some of the changes expected in 2008 are now fairly certain, even though the details or the actual date of implementation is not yet fixed, others are dependent on the outcome of government consultations or reviews, and the progress of Bills through Parliament.

In February

	The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2007 (SI 2007/3570) – will come into force on 1 February 2008. The maximum compensation in an unfair dismissal case will increase to £63,000. The maximum weekly pay to be taken into account when calculating statutory redundancy payments and the basic award in unfair dismissal claims will increase to £330.
	Two sets of new immigration regulations will come into force from 29 February introducing penalties for employing illegal workers.
	The new points-based system for managed migration will have a phased introduction from the first quarter of 2008.
	Following the High Court ruling that the UK Government had not properly implemented the Equal Treatment Directive, amendments to The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 are expected to be implemented.

In April

	Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/8992) – will come into force on 6 April, increasing protection for agency workers.
	Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007- will come into force on 6 April, creating a new offence of corporate manslaughter (corporate homicide in Scotland).
	Employers with 50 or more employees will have additional duties to consult their employees under the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3426) and the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers) (Modification for Multi-employer Schemes) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/16) – from 6 April.
	Statutory maternity/paternity/adoption pay – from April 2008, the flat rates for SMP, maternity allowance (MA), SPP and SAP will increased to £117.18 per week (or 90% of average weekly earnings if less).
	Statutory sick pay – from April 2008, the flat rate for SSP will increase to £75.40 per week.

In August

The recast EU Equal Treatment Directive which consolidates existing directives and European Court of Justice decisions into a single text – will come into force on 15 August.

In October

Annual increase in the national minimum wage is expected.

Other likely developments

	The Department for Communities and Local Government have confirmed that the UK Government will lay regulations before Parliament to fully implement the EU Race Directive.
	Report on review into extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children, with possible implementation during the year.
	Possible introduction of Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 – introducing central vetting system for those working with Children and vulnerable adults.

Employment-related Bills

	Employment Bill – introduced to Parliament on 6 December 2007. It aims to simplify, clarify and develop a stronger enforcement regime for certain aspects of employment law, including changes to the law relating to dispute resolution in the workplace as a response to the Gibbon review (see above) .
	Education and Skills Bill – introduced to Parliament on 29 November 2007. Will implement key elements of the Leitch Review, including raising the education or training leaving age to 18 by 2015.
	Pensions Bill – introduced to Parliament on 5 December 2007. Will take forward the remaining provisions in the 2006 White Paper.
	Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill – a private member’s Bill introduced on 5 December 2007. It aims to provide equal treatment for temporary and agency workers.
	draft Apprenticeship Reform Bill – plans to introduce legislation to reform apprenticeships.
	Single Equality Bill – expected in the Queen’s Speech in 2008.



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