Employment Law Review 2005 2006

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Employment Law Review 2005 / 2006
Presentation to the Surrey Care Association by
Antonia Spring - rhw Solicitors
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Employment Law Review

• legislative changes
• cases of interest

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Topics/Changes

• tribunal awards
• national minimum wage
• working time regulations
• disciplinary and grievance procedures
• discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation
  and religious belief
• disability discrimination
• age discrimination
• information and consultation
• family friendly policies

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Tribunal Awards

• UNFAIR DISMISSAL
• 1 February 2005
• Maximum weekly pay for employment tribunal basic
  awards is 8400 with the limit on a weeks pay
  raised from 270 to 280 per week
• Unfair dismissal maximum compensatory award
  raised from 55,500 to 56,800
• 1 February 2006, next increase

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Tribunal Awards

• REDUNDANCY PAY
• Maximum statutory redundancy payment of 8,400
  with the limit on a weeks pay raised from 270
  to 280 per week
• DISCRIMINATION
• No limit
• DISMISSAL FOR HS REASON
• No limit

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National Minimum Wage

• 1 October 2005
• Adult rate increased from 4.85 per hour to
  5.05
• (workers aged 22 and over)
• Development rate increased from 4.10 per hour
  to 4.25 (applies to workers aged 18-21)
• Youth rate of 3.00 per hour remains unaltered
• (applies to workers aged 16-17) Apprentices are
  exempt.

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Working Time Regulations

• Came into force 1 October 1998
• Day work
• Applies to adult workers i.e 18
• Weekly working time
• 17 week period no more than 48 hours per week
  on avge
• Daily rest period
• 7 day period uninterrupted of not less than 24
  hours
• 24 hour period 11 consecutive hours
• 6 hours (if working longer than) 20 minute
  rest break
• 4 weeks paid annual leave (in addition to bank
  holidays?)

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Working Time Regulations

• Young workers - i.e over school leaving age
  but below 18
• Maximum 8 hours per day
• - 40 hours per week
• Cannot be averaged out and no-opt out
• Derogation to exceed 40 hrs when adult not
  available
• Night workers (Health Safety risks)
• No more than 8 hours/24 hours
• Free health assessments
• Transfer to day work when worker has health
  problems connected to night work

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Working Time Regulations

• Contracting out (and back in)
• - Opt out agreement
• terminable by the worker giving 7days - 3months
  notice in writing
• - Contract of Employment
• (also, recovery of excess holiday /Notice
  required for holiday / refusal of holiday /
  compulsory holiday ???)

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Working Time Regulations

• What records do you need to keep?
• Records kept for 2 years
• No need to keep a running total of how much
  time workers work on average each week just
  adequate record
• Do occasional checks of workers unlikely to
  reach limit
• Monitor the hours close to the working time
  limit
• (make sure they do not work too many hours)
• Up to date record of workers who agreed over 48
  hrs but dont need to record their actual hours
• Record of night worker, assessment offered,
  when took place and result of assessment.

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Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

• Minimum disciplinary and grievance procedures
• DDP used when employer contemplating action
• Disciplinary/dismissal matters - standard three
  steps
• Inform the employee in writing
• Hold a disciplinary hearing
• Hold an appeal hearing
• Grievances - standard three steps
• Employee informs employer in writing
• Hold a grievance meeting
• Hold an appeal meeting

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Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

• Failure to follow procedure ?
• any dismissal automatically unfair,
• minimum 4 weeks statutory pay basic award
• plus 10-50 increase/decrease in award
• Modified procedures only rarely acceptable
• Right to be accompanied with extended rights to
  companion
• ACAS Codes of Practice

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Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation
or religious belief

• Introduced 1/2 December 2003
• Broadly equivalent to sex or race discrimination
• Distinction between race and religious belief (ie
  ethnic origin as opposed to religious faith)
• Civil Partnership Act 2004 - 5 December 2005
• Update Equal Opportunities Policy

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Disability Discrimination

• 1 October 2004
• Small employer exemption (15 employees or less)
  removed
• All employers obliged to consider making
  reasonable adjustments no justification defence
  for not doing so
• Reasonable adjustments for access to premises and
  services for service users/residents/family
• Explicit prohibition on harassment /
  discrimination
• 5 December 2005
• DDA extended HIV, MS and certain cancers
• clinically well-recognised removed from the
• definition of mental illness

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Age Discrimination

• 1 October 2006? Still subject to consultation
• Upper age limits for UD and redundancy removed
• Default compulsory retirement age of 65 likely to
  continue
• Right to request the employer considers
  employment beyond retirement age Employer duty
  to consider requests
• Retirement ages earlier than 65 to become
  discriminatory unless they are appropriate and
  necessary

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Information and Consultation in the workplace

• 6 April 2005
• Mandatory information and consultation with staff
  on various business issues
• business finances and future developments
• reorganisations and expansions
• staff changes and redundancies
• Employee representative committees
• 150 employees or more
• 100 employees or more from 6 April 2007
• 50 employees or more from 6 April 2008

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Family Friendly Changes

• April 2005
• Chancellors pre-budget report 2 December 2004
• Maternity leave 26 weeks (all employees).
• Employees with 26 weeks service at the 15th week
  before the baby is due is entitled to a further
  26 weeks.
• Introduction of 50 per week tax free childcare
  vouchers, as part of salary
• Statutory paternity pay 1 week or 2 consecutive
  weeks
• SMP, SPP, SAP increased to 106.00 per week

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Family Friendly Changes

• FUTURE
• Statutory Maternity Pay period is to be increased
  from 6 to 9 months from April 2007
• Maternity Leave is to be transferable to fathers
  after 6 months
• Keeping in touch days without losing SMP
• Employers can make reasonable contact with
  employees on maternity leave

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Family Friendly Changes

• Time off for dependents unpaid
• Parental leave - unpaid (rarely taken in
  practice)
• 13 weeks for each child under 5
• 18 weeks for each disabled child under 18
• Maximum 4 weeks per annum with 21 days notice
• Flexible working
• Employee has right to request
• Employer must consider but no obligation to
  allow

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Disclaimer

• The information in this handout is intended for
  information only and you must obtain legal advice
  before acting on or refraining to act upon any of
  the advice given at any lecture connected with
  these notes, or the notes themselves, which are
  merely for illustrative purposes.
• If you have any queries on employment law do feel
  free to telephone Antonia Spring or Richard Brown
  for a free initial chat.