With the government launching a number of consultations and making announcements as to what changes they will be making to employment law in the rest of the current Parliament, this month’s Q&A looks at what 2012 holds for employment law. Our training event, on 8 February at AFC Bournemouth, looked at this topic in more detail.
Q Why is 2012 looking like a year of significant change for employment law?
A The current coalition government has stated that it aims to reduce employers’ obligations and liabilities towards employees in order to assist the economic recovery. An additional benefit, so they say, will be a reduction of the burden on the taxpayer of the cost of employment disputes being resolved through the employment tribunal system.
Q What proposed changes will be coming into effect this year?
A We already know that pension auto enrolment is coming into effect from 1 October 2012, starting with the largest employers. While no draft legislation has yet been published, the government has announced it is proposing the following changes from April 2012:
- Increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from 1 to 2 years;
- Increase the amount an employment tribunal can order a party to make as a deposit in order to continue a weak claim from £500 to £1,000;
- Unfair dismissal cases to be heard by a judge alone, rather than a panel including 2 lay members; and
- Increase the maximum amount of costs it can order a party to pay from £10,000 to £20,000.
Q Does the government propose to introduce any other changes this year?
A The government has stated that it wishes to bring in the following changes at some point:
- All employment tribunal claims’ details to be submitted to ACAS prior to sending them to the tribunal in an attempt to encourage the parties to consider conciliation;
- An increase in the use of mediation in order to resolve disputes; and
- Giving employment tribunals the discretion to award financial penalties against employers who are found to have committed breaches of employment legislation with “aggravated features”. This has not been defined, but the proposed penalty is half of the total financial award won by a Claimant (minimum £100, maximum £5,000). If paid within 21 days the penalty will be halved.
Q Looking to the future, are there any other changes the government is consulting about that might result in changes to employment legislation?
A There are several other proposals the government are consulting on currently and they include the following:
- Introducing a new system of flexible parental leave, with an 18 week period of maternity leave for mothers, followed by a 34 week period of parental leave that can be shared between both parents;
- Extend the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ service;
- Introducing fees to be paid in order to issue claims in the employment tribunal and a further fee to be paid to list the claim for a hearing date; and
- Removing the current provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which require employers to take reasonable steps to protect employees from unwanted harassment by third parties on various grounds such as sex and race.
For a free initial meeting please call 01202 499255 and Kate or Paul will be happy to discuss any questions you may have.