The maximum limit on a week's pay will increase from £400 to £430 and the maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award will increase from £68,400 to £72,300 for dismissals taking effect on or after 1 February 2012.

Proposed rates of statutory benefits, which
will apply from early April 2012 are:

• The standard rates for statutory
  maternity pay, statutory paternity
  pay and statutory adoption pay will
  increase from £128.73 to £135.45.
  The weekly earnings threshold for
  these payments will rise from
  £102 to £107.
• Statutory sick pay will increase from £81.60 to £85.85, with the weekly earnings threshold also rising from £102 to £107.
• Maternity allowance will increase from £124.88 to £135.45, with the earnings threshold remaining at £30.
  

New laws coming into force in October 2012 will require all employers in Great Britain to automatically enrol eligible jobholders into a pension scheme. The new duties will be formally implemented over four years starting on 1 October 2012, with larger employers being affected before smaller employers and new businesses. The initial wave of employers will be able to voluntarily start auto-enrolment as early as July 2012.
For more information on our employment law services please click on the link: Employment Law

The government's consultation on tribunal fees was published in December 2011. The consultation seeks views on two different fee charging structures which might be adopted for charging fees in the employment tribunal:

• Option 1 proposes an issue fee and a hearing fee, the amount of which would depend on the nature of the claim and whether it was an individual claim or a multiple claim. For example, in an individual unfair dismissal claim, the claimant would have to pay an issue fee of £200 and a hearing fee of £1,000.
• Option 2 proposes only an issue fee, the amount of which will depend on what the claimant states their claim to be worth: an individual unfair dismissal worth less than £30,000 would cost £500 to issue, one worth more would cost £1,750.

Both options propose fee remission schemes for those who cannot afford the fees.
It is suggested that option 1 could be introduced in 2013 while it would take until 2014 for option 2 to be implemented in full. The consultation closes on 6 March 2012.

In May 2011, the government published its Consultation on Modern Workplaces setting out a four-stage plan for "a culture of flexible, family-friendly employment practices" in Great Britain. Key proposals include:
Flexible parental leave

• Unpaid leave for fathers to attend antenatal appointments.
• An 18-week period of maternity leave for mothers, followed by a new 34-week period of shared parental leave.

Flexible working

• The right to request flexible working to be extended to all employees with 26-weeks' continuous employment.
• New requirement for employers to consider requests "reasonably".

Annual leave

• To bring UK law into line with EU law workers who are unable to take annual leave during one holiday year will be able to carry unused leave over to the next holiday year.
• Amend the Working Time Regulations (WTR 1998) to allow leave which is untaken due to absence on maternity, adoption, parental and paternity leave (and, in due course, to the proposed new flexible parental leave rights) to be carried over into the next leave year.
• Increase employer flexibility on annual leave by:
• Amending the current prohibition of "buying out" any statutory leave under the WTR 1998 to allow employers to buy out the additional 1.6 weeks' annual leave entitlement which is over and above EU law requirements.
• Requiring employees to carry over all or part of the additional 1.6 weeks' leave entitlement in cases of genuine overriding business need..

The consultation closed in August 2011, with a response due early 2012.
Intended April 2012 changes (announced but no legislation in place yet!)
The government intends to bring into force a number changes in April 2012. These include:

• Unfair dismissal The qualifying period for bringing an unfair dismissal claim in the Tribunal will be increased from one to two years of continuous employment.
• Deposit orders (a payment into the Tribunal to enable a party to continue the litigation available in limited circumstances). The amount of deposit order a tribunal will be able to order a party pay will increase from £500 to £1,000.
• Costs awards The maximum amount of costs an employment tribunal can award (without referring the case to the county court for detailed assessment) will increase from £10,000 to £20,000.
• Witness statements Rather than witnesses reading their witness statements aloud in the hearing, witness statements will be taken as read in the tribunal, unless a judge directs otherwise.
• Witness expenses Tribunals will be given powers to direct parties to bear the costs of witness attendance, including the costs of witnesses called by the successful party. The government will withdraw state-funded expenses.
• Judges to sit alone on unfair dismissal cases Unfair dismissal cases in the tribunal will be heard by a judge sitting alone without lay members. Progress on this change will be reviewed after a year.
  For more information on our employment law services please click on the link: Employment Law
  

The government's intention to make the following changes has not been given a time table yet but include:-  

• Early Acas conciliationClaimants will be required to submit details of their dispute to ACAS first, at which point they will be offered pre-claim conciliation (PCC) for a period of one month. If it is refused by either party, or is unsuccessful, the claimant will be able to go ahead and present their claim to the tribunal. If the parties enter into PCC this will "stop the clock" on the limitation period to present the claim to the tribunal. The claimant will have one month after the conclusion of PCC to present their claim to the tribunal. This may not come into force until April2014 although the timetable is unknown.
• Mediation A  "long term reform programme" will be undertaken to increase the use of mediation to resolve disputes.
• Financial penalties for employers Introduction of financial penalties for employers who lose at tribunal is planned. Half of the total award made by the tribunal, with a minimum threshold of £100 and a maximum cap of £5,000. Where a non-financial award is made, the tribunal will be able to ascribe a monetary value. The penalty will be reduced by 50% if paid within 21 days. However, the levy of a financial penalty will be at the tribunal's discretion; it will not be automatic.

Also:-

Exempting start-ups and small businesses from new laws for three years. There is a suggestion that at some stage start-ups and employers with fewer than 10 employees will be exempted from compliance with new domestic employment regulation. The moratorium will last for three years and covers all new domestic regulation due to start from 1 April 2011. There has been some confusion, however, as to whether the moratorium applies to legislation in place prior to 1 April 2011 but coming into force after that date, such as the abolition of the default retirement age and additional paternity leave.

Dual discrimination will not come into force. The provisions on dual discrimination contained in the Equality Act will not be brought forward.
Consultation on removing the third-party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010. Provisions currently requiring employers to take reasonable steps to protect employees from third-party harassment will be reviewed. The government considers that this obligation on employers is an "unworkable requirement" and intends to consult on its removal.
Consultation on Protected conversations
On 10 November 2011 the government confirmed it intends to consult on the introduction of "protected conversations", as he put it "so a boss and an employee feel able to sit down together and have a frank conversation at either's request".
Additionally views are being sought, or plans to seek views suggested for these matters :-
Collective redundancy consultation
Evidence is sought to explore the consequences of reducing the 90-day period for collective consultation in large-scale redundancy situations to 60, 45 or 30 days. The call for evidence will close on 31 January 2012 and the evidence will be used to formulate policy proposals that will be put forward for formal public consultation.
For more information on our employment law services please click on the link: Employment Law

Views are sought on the effectiveness of TUPE 2006 given concerns that the regulations gold-plate the Acquired Rights Directive and are overly bureaucratic. There is a particular focus on service provision changes, insolvency proceedings and collective redundancy consultation. The call for evidence will close on 31 January 2012 and the evidence will be used to formulate policy proposals that will be put forward for formal public consultation.

"Compensated no-fault dismissals" for micro-businesses
There are plans to seek views on a proposal to introduce "compensated no-fault dismissal" for "micro firms" (with 10 or fewer employees).

"Radically slimming down" dismissal procedures
The government will also be looking at "radically slimming down existing dismissal processes" which are considered to be too lengthy and unfair to both parties. The government will be seeking views on introducing a "simpler, quicker and clearer dismissal process", which would potentially include changes to the ACAS Code of Practice,or introducing supplementary guidance for small businesses.
Much change in envisaged in 2012, and there appears to be a desire to make things easier for employers, however the detail of how many of the proposals is unknown and how they will actually be implemented and how they operate in practice will be the test of whether they actually are as employer friendly as they seem. We await details on the changes before we know much more.

For more information on our employment law services please click on the link: Employment Law

If you require assistance with any employment matter please contact Frances Barker on 01473 343911.