1. The qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection increases
The biggest change to employment rights in 2012 will be the increase of the qualifying period for an employee to bring an unfair dismissal claim, which will double from one year to two years. The change will take effect on 6 April 2012. The increase in the qualifying period is intended to give employers and employees more time to resolve any difficulties and reduce the number of unfair dismissal claims.
2. Pensions auto-enrolment begins
From 1 October 2012, new pension rules will begin to be phased in, requiring employers to enrol all eligible employees automatically and make compulsory employer contributions into a qualifying workplace pension scheme or the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest). The first wave of employers will be able to voluntarily start auto-enrolment as early as July 2012, and the legal requirement to enrol will be gradually rolled out between October 2012 and April 2017, starting with businesses with more than 120,000 employees
3. Changes to the employment tribunal procedure
The Government has announced a review of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, with significant changes expected to be introduced on 6 April 2012. Employment judges will hear unfair dismissal cases alone in the tribunal, unless they direct otherwise. The maximum amount of a deposit order, which a tribunal can order a party to pay as a condition to continuing with tribunal proceedings, will increase from £500 to £1,000. The maximum amount of a costs order, which a tribunal may award in favour of a legally represented party, will increase from £10,000 to £20,000.
4. Tribunal Fines
A proposal is being made to fine employers up to £5,000 (on top of damages) if they lose a tribunal case. The fine will be payable to the Exchequer and will be 50 per cent of the tribunal award, subject to a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5,000. The proposed fine would not apply to employees, so it may be perceived as a revenue raising exercise, however, it could mean that even more cases are settled rather than going to a full hearing.
5. Statutory redundancy payments and guarantee payments increase
The maximum amount of a week’s pay used to calculate a statutory redundancy payment, and the basic and additional awards for unfair dismissal, increases from £400 to £430 on 1 February 2012. The maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award increases to £72,300; with the limit on the amount of a guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day also increases from £22.20 to £23.50.
6. Maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay increases
The Government has confirmed that the standard rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from £128.73 to £135.45 per week from 1 April 2012. Statutory sick pay will increase from £81.60 to £85.85 per week from 6 April 2012.
7. Watch this space...
With consultations taking place for the introduction of employment tribunal fees, plans for the introduction of “protected conversations”, and calls for evidence over whether or not the law on TUPE and collective redundancy consultation should be amended, there will be a significant number of legal developments in the pipe- line this year. The Government has also announced that it will consult on reforming the law on employment disputes and removing the third-party harassment provisions of the Equality Act 2010, alongside a proposal to amend the existing Working Time legislation around carrying over holiday entitlement.
Has or will your business be affected by these issues? Empire welcome all feedback and comments. Please visit our facebook page where we regularly hold discussions relating to the topics covered in our blog posts.
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