Latest employment legislation – January 2011
January 2011
Unfair Dismissal – Maximum Compensatory Award Increase
The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £65,300 to £68,400 where the effective date of termination occurs on or after 1st February 2011
Redundancy Costs to Increase
New compensation limits in respect of redundancy will apply from 1st February 2011. The cap on a week’s pay (used to calculate Statutory Redundancy Pay and the Basic Award for Unfair Dismissal for those earning in excess of the cap) increases from £380 to £400. The maximum statutory redundancy payment therefore increases from £11,400 to £12,000.
Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Pay Rates Increase
Standard rates of statutory maternity pay (SMP), paternity pay (SPP) and adoption pay (SAP) will increase from £124.88 to £128.73 per week from 4th April 2011
Statutory Sick Pay Rate Rise
From 6th April 2011, the weekly rate at which Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)is payable increases from £79.15 to £81.60.
Royal Wedding – An Extra Day’s Holiday?
The Government has announced that the Royal Wedding (29th April) will be a public holiday and whilst many employers will give employees an extra paid day off work , there isn’t an automatic right for employees to take the day off as an extra day’s holiday.
The right to an extra day’s paid holiday will depend on the terms of the employee’s contract of employment. Where employment contracts state that employees’ holiday entitlements are a specific number of days plus bank holidays, they will be entitled to the additional day off work; however, where contracts state that holiday entitlements are a specific number of days, plus eight bank holidays, or if the contract specifies which bank holidays are included, there will be no entitlement to the holiday.
Consultation on Employment Legislation
The Government is consulting organisations on some changes to employment legislation as part of a drive to increasing job opportunities including the possibility of raising the qualifying period of continuous service necessary to issue unfair dismissal proceedings to two years as well as reducing the Statutory Sick Pay payment period for small businesses.
National Minimum Wage Award Amendments
Amendments have been made to the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 to plug a loophole which allowed workplace schemes to operate such that part of a worker’s pay which would normally be subjected to tax and national insurance could be replaced with expenses payments for travel. These types of Scheme are regarded as unacceptable as they allowed employers to retain the financial benefits at the expense of workers who had little knowledge as to how these schemes worked and also because they potentially had an adverse impact on workers’ access to social security benefits. The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No2) Regulations 2010 came into force on 1st January 2011.
Employment Tribunal Claims at Highest Level Ever
Tribunal service statistics for 2009/2010 record an increase in employment tribunal claims of 56% on the previous year to 236,100 claims. Claims for redundancy pay increased by 76%, unfair dismissal by 9%, and breach of contract by 29%. Disability discrimination claims increased by 14%, race discrimination by 14%, age by 37%, religion or belief by 20% and sexual orientation by 18%. However sex discrimination claims decreased by 2% although they remain the most common type of discrimination complaint. The increase in claims may well be a consequence of the recession but also a result of an increase in the number of multiple claims (with many Claimants named as party to a particular action) submitted over the period.