Posted: Friday 5 March 2010
April Employment Law Changes
An important date in the UK employment law calendar will be with us shortly. The Government attempts, wherever possible, to introduce changes to UK employment law on two dates per year (6 April and 1 October). The idea behind this is to make it easier for employers, particularly smaller employers, to manage these changes smoothly.
So what does 6 April bring us this year?
- GP “Sicknotes” will be replaced by “Fit notes”.
- “Whistle blowing” complaints raised by employees or former employees will automatically be passed on to industry regulators by Employment Tribunals.
- A new right for employees to request time off for study or training will be introduced. The right initially will only apply to employers with 250 or more employees, but will apply to all employers’ businesses from April 2011.
- The rate for Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay rises to £124.88 a week or 90% of normal weekly earnings (if lower).
- Statutory Sick Pay will remain at £79.15 a week for 28 weeks in any period of incapacity for work (PIW) or any series of PIWs spanning a maximum of three years.
The Fit notes and the Whistle blowing change are, in my view, the most significant. Employers will require to consider carefully the content of any fit notes and ensure a dialogue takes place between the employee and the organisation to discuss any points raised by the employee's GP. Careful consideration will also require to be given to the issue of reasonable adjustments in cases where the employee has a disability. With regard to the Whistle blowing change it will be interesting to see whether this results in tactical settlements taking place to avoid matters proceeding to a Tribunal and the report being made to the regulator. Similarly, this may be seized on by certain employees to put pressure on an employer to settle.
