April 2011 brings a number of important changes in employment law. These are:
Abolition of default retirement age. From 6 April, the default retirement age of 65 will be abolished. Although there are transitional provisions (which mean that there may still be some lawful retirements under the default retirement legislation into April 2012) unless employers have given notice to employees to retire prior to 6th April 2011, any further retirement dismissals will be judged on whether the retirement is objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. This will be a fact-sensitive issue and justification will be determined in the light of a detailed analysis of the working practices and business considerations involved.
Equality Act 2010. The controversial provisions
relating to positive action in recruitment and promotion
(section 159) come into force on 6th April. These
provisions allow employers in certain circumstances to treat
someone subject to a disadvantage because of a protected
characteristic more favourably than another equally qualified
person in connection with recruitment or promotion. Other
provisions are delayed or will not now come into force. The public
sector equality duties (section 149) are now due to come
into force in July 2011 as revised regulations are under review. It
was announced in the 23rd March budget that the provisions for
dual/combined discrimination claims (section 14) will not
come into force and will be dropped. The government is also going
to consult on removal of the requirement for employers to take
reasonable steps to prevent persistent harassment of their staff by
third parties (section 40). The Plan for Growth document
describes this as an "unworkable" requirement as
employers have no control over the third party behaviour.
Additional paternity leave and pay. The right to
additional paternity leave (and additional paternity pay) will be
available to parents of babies due on or after 3 April 2011 and to
adoptive parents who are notified that they have been matched with
a child for adoption on or after that date. Additional paternity
leave can be up to 26 weeks, although the right depends on the
mother going back to work sometime in the period beginning 20 weeks
after the child's date of birth and before 12 months after the
date of birth. Additional statutory paternity pay is paid at the
same rate as ordinary statutory paternity pay and is a standard
rate set by the government (£128.73 from April) or at 90% of
the employee's average weekly earnings if lower.
Taxation of termination payments. From 6 April, employers must use an 0T PAYE code for post-P45 payments. This means that employers will no longer be able to deduct tax from termination payments made after the issue of the P45 at basic rate only and so there will no longer be a cash flow advantage for higher tax payers. Payments should therefore be made prior to the issue of the P45 in most cases as the personal allowance can be used and it is likely to be administratively simpler.
Easing the burdens of employment regulation. Easing the burdens of employment regulation is a key theme of the recent budget and the government has scrapped two planned rights, due to come into force in April, namely (i) the extension of the right to request time to train to businesses with fewer than 250 employees and (ii) the extension of the right to request flexible working to parents of 17 year olds. (The existing right only applies to parents of children up to and including age 16.)
Recognising the particular burden that new regulation places on small business the government will also exempt businesses with fewer than 10 employees and genuine start up business from new domestic regulations for three years from 1 April 2011. In addition the government will launch a public thematic review to reduce the burden of existing legislation and the presumption will be that all regulations identified as burdensome will be removed unless good reasons are given for them to stay. The government will also publish a timetable for its ongoing review of employment law over the course of the Parliament which allows business to provide input to the changes that are being made. The stated aim is to reduce the estimated £1 billion burden of complying with current employment laws.
Statutory payment rates. From April 2011, weekly rates will increase for;
- Statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay will increase from £124.88 to £128.73. The weekly earnings threshold will rise from £97 to £102.
- Statutory sick pay will increase from £79.15 to £81.60. The weekly earnings threshold will rise from £97 to £102.
- Maternity allowance will increase from £124.88 to £128.73, with the earnings threshold remaining at £30.
To access a copy of the Government's Plan for Growth please click here.
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
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 30/03/2011.
