Employment Law Update by Kate Foreman
Payment Increases
The following payment increases should be noted and amended in your employee handbooks where appropriate : The weekly rate of statutory sick pay increased from £ 85.85 to £ 86.70 on 6 April .
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013 , making it the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and opening the door for a number of employment law changes . These include :
• An amendment to the Employment Rights Act 1996 , which will mean whistleblowing disclosures will not be protected unless the employee believes they are in the public interest , as well as changes to the ‘ good faith ’ requirements relating to whistleblowing disclosures .
• From June 2013 the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will no longer apply where the reason for the dismissal is the employee ’ s political opinions or affiliation .
• The Government confirmed that the provisions in the Act simplifying the procedures and costs of deciding tribunal cases will come into force on 25 June 2013 .
Later this year
On 7 April , the weekly rate of statutory maternity , paternity and adoption pay increased from £ 135.45 to £ 136.78 .
‘ Real Time Information ’
From 6 April , employers are required to report PAYE deductions to HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) prior to , or at the time of , paying employees rather than at the end of the year , under the new real time information ( RTI ) scheme ( although some employers of a specified size have amended start dates ). Employers need to use payroll software to send this information to HMRC electronically . Once an employer is using RTI , it will no longer need to submit forms P14 and P35 , as HMRC will have gathered the necessary information throughout the year each time the employer pays its employees .
A number of other changes under the act will come into force in October 2013 or April 2014 . These are likely to include :
• shareholders being given binding votes on pay policy ;
• repeal of a section of the Equality Act 2010 , which makes an employer liable where an individual is harassed by a third party ; ( seen as too difficult to apply in real terms );
• repeal of the questionnaire procedure under the Equality Act 2010 , whereby an individual can apply to obtain information about discrimination from the employer and use this as evidence in tribunal proceedings ;
• the addition of ‘ caste ’ to the definition of ‘ race ’ under the Equality Act 2010 ;
• power to be given to tribunals to impose financial penalties against employers where they have been found to have breached employment rights ;
• details of a proposed employment tribunal claim to be given to Acas by potential claimants before commencing proceedings , and that Acas will offer the parties the opportunity to engage in conciliation with a conciliation officer ;
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