February 2013

As of 1 February the following rates and awards will apply

• The maximum compensation for unfair dismissal will rise from £ 72,300 to £74,200
• The maximum amount for a weeks pay, used in unfair dismissal and redundancy calculations, will rise from £ 430 to £450
• Statutory rates for maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from £ 135.45 to £136.78
• Statutory sick pay will increase from £ 85.85 to £ 86.70.

March 2013

• An increase to unpaid parental leave from 13 weeks to 18 weeks per child
• The right to request flexible working is to be extended to agency workers when returning from parental leave.

April 2013

• A reduction in the minimum consultation period where a redundancy affects more than 100 employees, from 90 to 45 days.
• An amendment to the whistleblowing legislation to restrict “qualifying disclosures” to those where the worker had a reasonable belief the disclosure was in the public interest.
• The introduction of “employee shareholder status” under which employees can waive certain employment rights in return for company shares worth at least £ 2,000.
• The implementation of the revised employment tribunal services rules.  These will include the payment of fees to submit a claim and  an initial "paper sift" to decide whether a claim should be struck out.  It will  allow tribunals to enforce a timetable for giving evidence, questioning witness and presenting submissions.  There is also a change under which employers will no longer have to make an application for the case to be dismissed if the employee withdraws a claim.
• The introduction of real time pay information– See our article below for more information.

Other changes expected during the summer of 2013

• The new Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (formed from merging Criminal Records Bureau and the Independent Safeguarding Authority) will be changing the standard CRB to the Standard DBS check and portable criminal records check and online updating services are planned from March 2013. Volunteers will also be able to use the service for free so there will be no need to apply for multiple checks.
• Penalties are to be introduced for employers who loose at an employment tribunal in cases where there has been a substantial breach of the law. Penalties are likely to be a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5,000 with the penalty being reduced by 50% if paid within 21 days.  The penalties will be at the discretion of the employment judge.
• The limit on Unfair Dismissal Claims  is likely to be fixed somewhere between one to three times the average salary of £ 26,000 currently  or one year of the employee’s salary whichever is the maximum.
• Compromise agreements are planned to become Settlement Agreements.  enabling employers and employees  to reach an agreement before a dispute arises and employers will be legally protected from these discussions being used in any future unfair dismissal claim.
• There is a proposal to reform the TUPE Regulations by removing the service provision change and the obligation to provide employee liability information. Other changes are proposed regarding changing of terms and conditions of employment following a TUPE transfer and how a TUPE process ties in with any redundancy.
• Working time regulations are planned to allow up to four weeks of annual leave to be carried forward into a future year where the employee is off sick during the whole leave year.  It will also allow employers to ‘buy back’ excess annual leave from employees.

Changes that are expected from October

• Tribunals to be given the power to force employers to undertake an equal pay audit if they are the subject of a unsuccessful equal pay or pay-related discrimination claim.
• The introduction of  pre-claim conciliation by ACAS so claims to Tribunals will not be permitted unless a claimant can produce a certificate from ACAS confirming that the conciliation process has been completed.
• The SSP record keeping on employee sickness absence are expected to be abolished and employers will be allowed to keep records in a more flexible manner.

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