April 2010 sees several changes to employment legislation to be
aware of.
Paternity Leave
The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations come into force on 6
April 2010. They will affect parents of children born or placed for
adoption on or after 3 April 2011.
An eligible employee will be able to take up to 26 weeks'
additional paternity leave. However this can not start until at
least 20 weeks after the birth/adoption placement and must end
before the child's first birthday/anniversary of adoption. The
additional leave is conditional upon the mother returning to
work.
The Government has indicated that additional paternity leave will
be paid at the same rate as "ordinary" statutory
paternity pay if taken during the 39 week maternity pay period
(which is £124.88 per week from April 2010).
What should you be doing?
You will need to update any maternity, paternity and adoption leave
policy to reflect this new right.
Time to train
From 6 April 2010, employees who work for employers with 250
employees or more will have a new right to request time off for
training.
Any employee with at least 26 weeks service can request time off
for training where it will improve the effectiveness of the
business and themselves. The Government hopes that encouraging
people to up-skill will benefit employees, employers and
consequently, the economy.
Employers are required to consider any requests for time off to
train within a set timeframe. The employer can refuse the request
where there is a good business reason to do so. If you do not think
that the training will improve the performance of your business you
can refuse the request.
Should an employer decide to grant an employee request for
training, the amount of time off allowed and the amount of pay, if
any, is at the discretion of the employer.
Failure to observe the right can result in a tribunal claim by the
employee. If the claim is successful, the employer can be ordered
to reconsider the application and/or pay compensation for up to 8
weeks pay.
What should you be doing?
You may wish to develop a policy setting out the process for making
a request.
Fit Notes
Where an employee is off sick from work, their absence will no
longer be validated with a 'sick note'. Doctors will now
issue a Statement of Fitness for Work or 'fit note' to
indicate whether an employee is fit for work.
A doctor can now recommend that an employee may be fit for work if
the employer makes certain adjustments. The Government hopes that
the new system will encourage further discussions between doctor
and patient and between employee and employer on the potential
options that could facilitate a return to work. The new statement
is unlikely to remove the need to obtain a specialist medical
report.
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Bill has been approved by the House of Commons. To see
our mored detailed briefing, click
here .
Revised statutory sick pay and maternity, paternity and
adoption pay
The weekly rate of SSP will now be £79.15 (up from
£75.40).
The prescribed weekly rate of statutory maternity, paternity and
adoption pay will now be £124.88 (up from
£123.06).
Whistleblowing
There is a new power for employment tribunals to forward details of
whistleblowing claims directly to a prescribed regulator, such as
the Health and Safety Executive, HMRC or the Office of Fair
Trading. Employees must 'opt-in' for information to be
passed to a regulator by ticking the relevant box on the new ET1
forms. The Government hopes that this new power will prevent
genuine allegations of malpractice from slipping under the
investigation radar.
Changes to immigration rules
From 6 April, several changes are being made to the immigration
rules. The key changes are in the operation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 of
the points-based system. Under Tier 1, there is a new points table
and now a simpler route to work for those without a masters degree.
The changes to Tier 2 mean that it will be easier to transfer
employees within the sponsor organisation.
Further changes include amendments to the immigration rules
covering asylum seekers, English language qualifications and
marriage visas for members of the Armed Forces.
No win no fee – Cap on lawyers
There are new regulations which control the use of contingency fee
arrangements by lawyers in employment tribunal cases. Contingency
fee arrangements are a no win no fee arrangement where the
client's lawyer receives a percentage of the damages if the
case is successful. Clients must now be given more information in
writing and lawyers' fees are capped at 35% of the awarded
damages. The regulations are intended to ensure clients receive all
relevant information and protect them from unfair terms. They may
lead to a decline in claims being founded on a no-win no-fee
basis.
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.