Government employment law reform update
In our last newsletter we covered the government's proposals for employment law reform. So far this year the government has published various responses and consultations on these proposals. The key dates for implementation of those most likely to impact on the sector are:
- Whistleblowing loophole to be closed – this will prevent claims relating to personal employment contracts, to be implemented in April 2013. There have been other proposed amendments to the whistleblowing legislation in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill which include the removal of the "good faith" requirement but with the ability of the tribunal to reduce compensation by up to 25% if the disclosure is not made in good faith and protection for whistleblowers from acts of detriment by workers or agents of the employer with a defence for employers if they have taken reasonably practicable steps to prevent this. This follows the decision in NHS Manchester v Fecitt where the Court of Appeal held that there was no provision in the legislation making it unlawful for employees to victimise whistleblowers.
- Collective redundancy consultation period - where there are 100 more employees at risk of redundancy this period will be reduced from 90 to 45 days from April 2013. Employees whose fixed term contracts are due to expire will be excluded from consultation requirements.
- In the Summer 2013: Pre-termination settlement negotiations will be inadmissible in unfair dismissal proceedings; settlement agreements with model Agreements together with standard letters and a new ACAS Code of Practice will be introduced and unfair dismissal compensation will be capped at 1 year's gross pay or the current statutory cap (£74,200) whichever is lower.
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.
