The charity Age Concern has argued that UK age discrimination legislation contravenes European law by allowing employers to retire employees against their wishes. Age Concern has brought a court action in the hope of getting the legislation declared unlawful (through a case commonly known as the 'Heyday' case). The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has now ordered that all age discrimination claims brought by employees aged 65 or over who have been forced to retire must be put on hold pending the outcome of the Heyday case. The decision of the ECJ is not expected until 2009. This order has worrying implications for employers who now face a long period of uncertainty in relation to the lawfulness of mandatory retirement.
Abolition Of Statutory Disciplinary And Grievance Procedures
Earlier in 2007, a Government appointed review recommended the repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures and made a number of other significant recommendations to improve dispute resolution in UK workplaces. In response, the Government is pushing ahead with the Employment Bill.
The Bill, once implemented, will repeal the existing statutory dispute resolution procedures and the related provisions which can render a dismissal 'unfair' just because of a breach in procedure. In place of them, employers and employees alike will be expected to comply with codes of practice for resolving disputes developed by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). If either party unreasonably fails to follow the codes of practice, employment tribunals will be able to increase or reduce compensation by up to 25 per cent, depending on who was at fault. Amongst other proposed amendments contained in the Bill, it is also proposed to extend ACAS's power to conciliate.
Collective Redundancy Consultation Clarified
The EAT has made it clear that an employer must consult over the business reasons for making redundancies when a business is closing, as part of the obligation to collectively consult on ways in which the redundancies can be avoided.
This overturns previous case law dating back to 1993, which the EAT found was no longer good law in light of subsequent changes to legislation. As a result, if more than 20 people are likely to lose their jobs in a 90-day period, employers should not take a firm decision to close part of the business until the proposed reasons for such redundancies have been discussed with a recognised union or elected employee representatives.
Increased Holiday Entitlement
From 1 October 2007, the statutory minimum annual leave entitlement increased from 4 weeks to 4.8 weeks (subject to a cap of 28 days). A further increase to 5.6 weeks is due in April 2009.
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