There will be a number of significant changes to employment law over the next 12 months and beyond. Here are some of the key dates to diarise:

31 January 2014 – TUPE changes 

The Government has proposed changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, which are due to come into force on 31 January 2014. The changes are outlined in further detail in our recent post.

6 April 2014 – Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 will introduce various changes on 6 April 2014. These include:

  • Mandatory pre-claim ACAS conciliation 
  • The repeal of the statutory discrimination questionnaire procedure
  • Potential financial penalties for employers who lose at Employment Tribunal. The financial penalty will be half the amount of the total award made by the Employment Tribunal, with a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5,000.

6 April 2014 – Right to request flexible working 

The Children and Families Bill extends the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks' qualifying service.

6 April 2014 – Statutory pay

The rates of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay are due to increase. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is also due to increase.

The Government is also due to abolish the SSP record-keeping obligations and allow employers to keep records in a flexible manner which best suits their organisation.

October 2014 – Equal pay audits

Employment Tribunals will have the power to order an employer to carry out an equal pay audit where it has breached equal pay legislation. The Government has indicated that this will come into force in October 2014. 

2014 – Managing sickness absence

The new Government-funded Health and Work Service, recommended by the sickness absence review, is due to start in 2014. It will help people who have been on sick leave for 4 weeks get back to work by providing a return to work plan. Advice for GPs, employers and employees will be available during the absence and additional help will be available for more complex cases.   

April 2015 – Shared parental leave

Shared parental leave is due to come into force in April 2015. It will allow parents to share up to 50 weeks' shared parental leave and 37 weeks' pay, increasing flexibility of leave arrangements between parents. This new right is outlined in further detail here.  

Other changes to family friendly legislation are also due to take effect in 2015 (although the implementation dates have not yet been published): 

  • The age limit on parental leave is due to increase from the current 5 years to 18 years, providing each parent with the right to up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child under 18.
  • Fathers, and partners of pregnant women, will be entitled to take unpaid time off work to attend two antenatal appointments.
  • Statutory adoption leave will become a "day one" right with no qualifying conditions for eligible adopters who are matched with a child. Statutory adoption pay will be enhanced to 90% of the primary adopter's salary for the first 6 weeks. An adopter who qualifies for statutory adoption leave may end that leave and if both adopters, or the adopter and his/her partner, meet the qualifying criteria, they will become eligible for the shared parental leave and pay system from 2015.
  • The intended parents in a surrogacy arrangement will be eligible (if they meet the qualifying criteria) for statutory adoption leave and pay and for shared parental leave and pay. The intended parents will also be entitled to unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments.

2015 – Caste discrimination legislation

Caste discrimination legislation is due to be introduced in 2015. The published timetable indicates the following:

  • Full public consultation on the prospective caste legislation expected in February/March 2014.
  • Government response to the consultation and draft Order expected in Autumn 2014.
  • Final draft Order is likely to be introduced into Parliament during Summer 2015.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.