Latest Employment Legislation – April 2011
April 2011
Latest changes in employment legislation.
Default Retirement Age Abolished
The default retirement age of 65 will be abolished on 1st October 2011 which means that employers will no longer be able to compulsorily retire employees once they reach their 65th birthday unless they can justify it as a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’. The Government has introduced new regulations to deal with retirements occurring before the abolition date. Notice of retirement must be issued before 6th April 2011, the employee must be 65 (or a higher normal retirement age on or before 30th September 2011 and the statutory retirement procedure must be followed. Examples to illustrate the the transitional arrangements follow:
Employee A is given notification of his retirement date in March 2011. His retirement date (65th birthday) is 30th September 2011. As he was notified before 6th April 2011 and his retirement will be completed before the 1st October 2011, he can be compulsory retired using the DRA subject to the correct procedure being followed.
Employee B is given notification of his retirement dated March 2011. His retirement date is his 65th birthday, 5th October 2011. Although he was notified before the 6th April 2011, because he did not reach his retirement date (which must not be before his 65th birthday using the DRA process) before the 1st October 2011, he cannot be compulsory retired.
Employee C is not notified of his retirement date before 6th April 2011. His 65th birthday is on the 30th September 2011. He cannot be compulsory retired because he was not notified before the 6th April 2011 and the short notice provisions which allow less than 6 months notice to be given are removed in April 2011.Redundancy Costs to Increase
Additional Paternity Leave Rights
New Additional Paternity Leave Regulations come into force for employees whose children are born on or after 3rd April 2011. The new regulations will give employed fathers / partners the right to take up to six months extra leave when the mother returns to work.
Your HR Managers will be modifying maternity and paternity leave procedures contained in Handbooks and Policy Manuals for existing service users as applicable.
Flexible Working Rights Extension Scrapped
Plans to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children aged under 18-years-old from April 2011 have been scrapped. Despite this last minute change, the Government is still considering the eventual extension of flexible working request rights to all employees.
Training Request Extension Rights Scrapped
The Government has announced that it will not extend the statutory right to make a request in relation to study or training to all employees as previously planned to smaller employers. The statutory right to make requests for time off work for training remains in force for employers with headcounts of 250 or more.