UK: Employment Law Developments In Queen´s Speech

The Queen’s Speech on Tuesday 6th November contained a number of employment law related announcements, including commitment to:

1. a new Employment Bill. Most significantly this will repeal the statutory dispute resolution procedures and replace them with a new and non-compulsory system. The Employment Bill will also change the enforcement and penalties framework for the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and employment agency standards. The intention for NMW is to increase the penalties available for employers caught in breach and to give full powers to HMRC to recover all underpayments due to employees.
2. "proposals to help people achieve a better balance between work and family life". The Government is now considering ways of extending the right to request flexible working further. The HR Director of Sainsbury’s has been appointed to lead an independent review to determine how the current right to request flexible working can be extended to older children. Recommendations are expected in Spring 2008. The media has assumed that the right will be extended to cover at least all primary school children. Therefore the real question is how far (if at all) coverage will be extended to children of secondary school age. There is also speculation whether there will be consideration given to the extension of the categories of adult who can exercise the right. At present non-parents are only covered if there is a legal order giving them parental rights. Consideration may now be given to whether aunts and uncles, older siblings or grandparents (who have assumed responsibility without a formal court order) should also be able to exercise the right.
3. a new Pensions Bill. The much trailed Pensions changes (as set out in our Law-Now dated 20th June) were confirmed whereby employers will have to make mandatory employer pension contributions and employees will be automatically enrolled into a scheme unless they positively opt-out.
4. requiring children to remain in education or training beyond the current statutory school leaving age so that by 2013 all 17 year olds and by 2015 all 18 year olds are participating in some form of education or training. Where the employer does not provide their own training a duty will be imposed on the employer to release young people (16 and 17 year olds) for the equivalent of one day a week to undertake training elsewhere and to check whether that young person is participating in such training.
5. reform of apprenticeships through legislation. A review of the apprenticeship programme is underway and the review is due for completion in January 2008. The Government is likely to put pressure on employers to participate in the new apprenticeship programme. In addition there may be a duty on public organisations to promote apprenticeships in the same way as public authorities have a duty to promote equality. This could lead to "contract compliance" as a mechanism for increasing employers commitment to the programme.
6. legislation to approve the European Union Reform Treaty. The Government has expressly confirmed that the Protocol negotiated by the UK and Polish Governments effectively prevents the European Charter of Fundamental Rights affecting the UK’s employment laws and practices.

One omission from the Queen’s Speech was the Single Equality draft Bill. The Government has dropped the draft Bill and has decided to consult interested parties on particular provisions as and when they are produced. It is understood that a Bill will now be published in November 2008.

Note that on 19th October two private members bills - the Temporary and Agency Workers Bill and the Trade Union Rights and Freedoms Bill were talked out so that they has been no progress on these Bills.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

The original publication date for this article was 07/11/2007.