Qualifying period for unfair dismissal increases

The qualifying period for gaining employment protection rights against unfair dismissal increases from one to two years today. The increase will apply only to employees whose commencement date is on or after 6th April 2012.

Employers should continue to be vigilant when considering dismissals for employees who started prior to 6th April 2012 as they will still be able to bring a claim after only one year’s service. It is important to note that the change to the qualifying period will not remove the risk of discrimination claims as no qualifying periods apply to these claims. In addition there are a number of exceptions to the qualifying period which will remain.

It is anticipated that the increase in the service requirement for most unfair dismissal claims may result in an increase in employees seeking to make alternative claims. As such it will be important for employers to seek advice in any circumstances where they are considering the dismissal of an employee to ensure that the risk of any claim being made is minimised.

Please contact the Empire Team if you have any queries about these changes, and especially if you are looking to terminate an employee’s contract of employment.

Other Legislative Changes which take effect today:

• Employment tribunal procedure reformed - On 6 April 2012, the maximum amounts of deposit and costs orders increase; 
• Statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay increased from £128.73 to £135.45 on 1st April. The weekly rate of statutory sick pay also increases, from £81.60 to £85.85, on 6 April 2012 ;
• Tax thresholds - On 6 April 2012, the lower earnings limit for primary Class 1 national insurance contributions increases from £102 to £107, the income tax personal allowance increases to £8,105, and the threshold at which employees pay the higher income tax rate of 40% is reduced to £34,371;
• Calculation of staging date for pension auto-enrolment - From October 2012, employers will be required to auto-enrol eligible jobholders into a qualifying workplace pension scheme . The date from which employers must auto-enrol employees (known as the "staging date") is based on the number of employees in their PAYE scheme on 1 April 2012
• Accident-reporting requirements change - On 6 April 2012, the required period of incapacity following an injury caused by an accident at work, which triggers the employer's requirement to report the accident to the enforcing authority , increases from more than three days to more than seven days. The deadline by which the employer must report the accident increases from 10 days to 15 days.
• Definition of "independent adviser" for compromise agreements clarified.

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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CHANCELLOR HINTS AT NO-FAULT DISMISSALS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

George Osborne has suggested that compensated no-fault dismissals could be introduced for what he called “the smallest businesses” in an attempt to protect employers’ rights.

Speaking at the EEF Manufacturers’ Dinner on 6th March, Osborne said: “Of course, employees have rights and should be protected. But what about your right to start a business and not be sued out of existence? And now we’re beginning a call for evidence on the case for a new compensated no-fault dismissal for our smallest businesses. Plenty of trade unions and others will be submitting their evidence for why we shouldn’t do this. If you think we should, and it will increase employment, then don’t wait for someone else to send in the evidence. Send it in yourself.”

The proposed “compensated no-fault dismissal” system was originally outlined in the leaked set of recommendations put together in November 2011 written by venture capitalist Adrian Beecroft and reportedly commissioned by David Cameron.

John Read, employment law editor at XpertHR, suggested that this statement overlooks the fact that employers cannot be “sued out of existence” unless they treat their employees badly and suggests that bad employers will be the only parties who are protected by the introduction of no-fault dismiss- als. He said: “.....When it comes to unfair dismissal, employers have only to act reasonably in the circumstances to dismiss an employee fairly”. Small employers might be panicked about employment law and unfair dismissal in particular, how- ever, Empire are here to provide you with any help and advice you may need in all areas of employ- ment legislation.

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. If you have found this post interesting please use the "Share" buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

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PENSIONS AUTO-ENROLMENT UNDERMINES GOVERNMENT’S PROMISE TO CUT RED TAPE

Pensions auto-enrolment will add “another layer of red tape and bureaucracy” for employers, break- ing the Government’s promise to reduce the burden of red tape on businesses. Daniel Barnett, an employment lawyer, made the comments in response to a survey that found that pension auto-en- rolment was the top concern for employers and HR professionals for the year ahead.

33% of the 1,400 people surveyed by Barnett said that the introduction of pensions auto-enrolment would be their biggest challenge this year. Once it comes into force, employers will have to automatically enrol eligible employees into qualifying workplace pension schemes and make mandatory employer contributions. The date on which employers will have to begin auto-enrolment will depend on their PAYE scheme size, with the largest employers having to auto-enrol employees from 1 October 2012.

Barnett commented that “employers are being left confused and uncomfortable” about what seems like another layer of red tape and bureaucracy. The survey also found that more than a quarter of HR professionals would like to see the Agency Workers Regulations scrapped and 26% want the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) to be abolished. However, employers were largely positive about the upcoming reforms to the employment tribunal system, which include the introduction of fees for employees bringing tribunal claims and an increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, with 56% believing that it will reduce the number of claims.

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. If you have found this post interesting please use the "Share" buttons below to tell your online community about it, there's a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

You can also follow Empire HR on Facebook - please click here