As of 6th April 2014
- Discrimination questionnaires are abolished.
- Pre-claim conciliation is introduced on an optional basis.
- Financial penalties on employers who lose in the Employment Tribunal will now be imposed. Tribunals will have the ability to impose a financial penalty on employers who lose at tribunal of 50% of any financial award, but limited between a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £5,000. If the award is not financial the Tribunal will be able to decide a monetary value of its own. The penalty will be reduced by 50% if it is paid within 21 days. However, it will not be automatic and the levy of the financial penalty remains at the Tribunal’s discretion.
- Abolition of Statutory Sick Pay record keeping in favour of giving employers the discretion to use a system which suits them.
- The Tribunal fees will be amended so that equal pay, sex equality in pension schemes, failure to inform or consult under TUPE, failure to allow compensatory rest under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and breach of the right to request time off for training will now attract higher issue fees and hearing fees, being £250 and £950 respectively.
- Alterations to the current pension protection regime under TUPE come into force. These offer the transferee employer the option of matching the transferor employer’s level of employee contributions as an alternative to the current requirement of matching the employee’s chosen contribution rate up to 6%. These changes are supposed to reflect the introduction of the employee auto enrolment duties and thereby prevent a situation where a transferee employer has to pay a higher level of contributions than either the employee’s old employer or that required by the Pensions Act 2008.
- Finally the usual rate changes have been passed so for a quick reference guide please click on the link below.
For Key Employment Rates – April 2014 Click Here
Don’t be caught out
On 1st May – The TUPE rules change so that the period in which transferors must provide Employee Liability Information will increase from 14 to 28 days before the transfer.
On 6th May – the ACAS conciliation service becomes mandatory for the majority of claims.
For more information or for any other queries please contact Jacqueline Kendal on 0207 246 8054 or by email Jacqueline.kendal@rkllp.com
