Employment Laws Delayed again!

Employment laws delayed again!

George Osborne’s idea for introducing employee shareholders received a blow recently when the House of Lords voted down the proposal in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill. The House of Commons is to debate this on 22 April.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill has also been held up. The House of Commons will be debating further amendments on 16 April.

The Government recently published ‘Employment Law 2013: progress on reform’ with a new implementation timetable for its changes. Many of these were due to come into force in April but have now been delayed.

So what is definitely happening in April?

6 April: Changes to rules on collective redundancies and new ACAS guidance – the 90 day consultation period for 100+ redundancies is reduced to 45 days

What may be happening in April? (Timescale still uncertain!)

Repeal of 3^rd party harassment provisions in the Equality Act making it no longer an employer’s responsibility if an employee is harassed by a 3^rd party such as a customer

Abolition of statutory discrimination questionnaires, which currently enable employees to ask lots of detailed questions to elicit information that may be helpful to a discrimination claim

Introduction of ‘caste’ as a 10^th protected characteristic in the Equality Act

The 2 year qualifying period for unfair dismissal is removed in cases where the reason for dismissal is political opinion or affiliation.
This follows a recent case (Redfearn v UK) at the ECHR when it was held that it was a breach of a BNP member’s human rights not to have the opportunity to claim unfair dismissal for being sacked for his political opinion. This brings dismissals for political beliefs in line with other forms of discrimination.

Consolidation of National Minimum Wage Regulations

By Simon Morgan:  HRRescuer

Next FREE Seminar:
http://www.hrdept.co.uk/south-east/south-east-london-and-north-kent/events/15th-may-2013-0900/how-manage-reorganisation-and