A SNAPSHOT OF THE EMPLOYMENT LAW TO COME IN 2011

2010 proved to be a very busy year for employment law, and with the prospect of an even busier 2011, we thought it would be helpful to give you a preview of what’s in store for this year.

Monthly Guide:

JANUARY

National minimum wage: travel expenses to temporary workplaces no longer count

• From 1 January 2011, expenses for travel to a temporary workplace can no longer form part of employees' pay for national minimum wage purposes.

FEBRUARY

Compensation Levels:

·         For dismissals and other events which occur on or after 1 February 2011 the limit on a week’s pay for the purpose of calculating statutory redundancy and the basic award rises from £380 to £400.

·         The maximum compensation that can be awarded by an Employment Tribunal rises to £68,400 from 1 February 2011.

APRIL

Transitional provisions for abolition of default retirement age

• From 6 April 2011, employers will be prohibited from issuing new notifications of retirement using the statutory retirement procedure and notifications issued before this date must relate only to employees whose retirement dates fall before 1 October 2011.

Extension of the right to request flexible working

• On 6 April 2011, the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children under 18 (it currently applies to parents of children aged under 17, or 18 if the child is disabled).

Equality Act 2010 - positive action in recruitment and promotion

• From 6 April 2011, the Equality Act 2010 will allow employers, in certain circumstances, to apply voluntary positive action to recruit or promote a person with a protected characteristic (who suffer as a disadvantage as a result,) in preference to another without the protected characteristic, provided that they are equally qualified for the post.

Right to request time off for training

• The right for employees to make a request in relation to study or training, which currently applies to employees in organisations with 250 or more employees, is due to be extended to all employees from 6 April 2011. It is still under consultation at the moment whether or not this will apply to organisations who employ less than 50 employees.

Additional paternity leave and pay available

• Additional paternity leave and pay allows fathers to benefit from up to 26 weeks' additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work before using her full entitlement to statutory maternity leave. The new right is available to parents of children with an expected week of childbirth beginning on or after 3 April 2011.

New corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery

• The Bribery Act 2010 will introduce a corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery by persons working on behalf of a business, which comes into force in April 2011.

Maternity, paternity and adoption pay

• The standard rates of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from £124.88 to £128.73 per week from 3 April 2011.

Statutory sick pay

• Statutory sick pay will also increase from £79.15 to £81.60 per week from 6 April 2011.

Tax Codes are changing

• With effect from 6 April 2011 higher rate tax payers paid more than £30,000 compensation for dismissal, either by reason of redundancy or otherwise, will have to pay tax at the higher rate.

• Employers will also have to withhold income tax at rates of up to 50% when making post-termination payments to employees. Under the new rules, employers will have to change the PAYE tax code they use from BR to 0T (zero allowances) when they make a payment to a former employee. This means that taxable termination payments should have tax deducted from them at the normal rates that apply to that employee (basic, higher or additional rate).
• Other changes relating to the PAYE tax code that should be used are also being made with effect from 6th April 2011 in relation to when an employee starts work without providing a form P45, employers will have to operate code 0T so that employees will pay tax at the basic, higher and additional rate as appropriate. 
  
  

OCTOBER

Default retirement age is completely abolished

• The default retirement age will be abolished completely after a six-month transitional period, and employers will be prohibited from retiring employees in reliance on the default retirement age on or after 1 October 2011. This means removing the ability for employers to fairly dismiss employees who have reached the age of 65. At the moment, provided that an employer goes through a proper process by giving at least six months but not more than 12 months’ notice of their intention to retire employees who have reached 65 and offer them the right to be considered for an extension and go through an appeal process if the employer says no, then there can be no claim for unfair dismissal or for age discrimination.

• With effect from 1 October 2011 dismissal for retirement will no longer be a fair reason for dismissal. The Government says that termination should be through either discussion or capability.

• This means that the last date to safely dismiss by reason of retirement is 30 March 2011.

• In our February newsletter we will provide you with guidelines on how to prepare for this.

New rules on equal treatment for agency workers

• The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will entitle agency workers to equal treatment on basic employment conditions after 12 calendar weeks in a given job, including pay and holidays, from 1 October 2011.

National minimum wage may rise

• The national minimum wage may rise on 1 October 2011, subject to the prevailing economic conditions and the Low Pay Commission's recommendations to be delivered to the Government in February 2011.

A SUMMARY OF CONSULTATIONS STILL OPEN IN 2011

Withdrawal of legal aid for employment claims

• The Government is consulting on proposals to remove legal aid for most employment claims in England and Wales.
• Consideration is also been given to a possible increase in the one year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims.

Reform of the PAYE system

• The Government is consulting on the reform of the PAYE system. It is introducing "real time information", a scheme that will enable HM Revenue and Customs to collect information about tax and other deductions each time an employer pays its employees.

Look out early February for our next newsletter where we will provide you with some urgent guidelines on how to prepare for the “Abolition of the Default Retirement Age.”

If you have any questions about this or any tips you would be happy to share, please email us at julie.ware@peoplebusiness.co.uk or call us on 01932 874944 or respond at http://people-insight.blogspot.com/