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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