Employment Law Update - 01/04/2014

Employment Law Changes April 2014

This week sees a number of Employment Law changes in areas that affect companies and businesses each day. The changes are far reaching, and cover areas from discrimination and pension auto-enrolment to employment tribunals and maternity.

AllingtonHughes Ltd are urging businesses to be aware of these changes to ensure they do not fall foul of the new legislation.

The main changes are as follows:-

●          The Acas Early Conciliation rules come into force on 6 April 2014. Before a person lodges an Employment Tribunal claim, they will have to notify Acas by completing an online form. Acas will then aim to make contact with both parties and talk through the issues to see if a solution can be found. Acas will have up to one month to achieve resolution before a formal claim to the Employment Tribunal can proceed.

●          A number of tribunal award limits are increasing. For dismissals where the effective date of termination is on or after 6 April 2014, the maximum amount of a week’s pay, used to calculate unfair dismissal basic awards and statutory redundancy payments, will rise to £464 (from £450).

The maximum compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal claims will be £76,574.

●          From 6 April 2014, there will be statutory increases to maternity pay, ordinary and additional paternity pay, and statutory adoption pay from £136.78 to £138.18.

●          As of 1 April 2014, the time period for employers enrolling eligible workers into a qualified pension scheme will increase from one month to six weeks.

●          Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 is repealed on 6 April 2014, with effect that provisions enabling an individual to obtain information from the employer about discrimination and for information to be used as evidence in tribunal proceedings no longer apply.

In addition to the changes above, from 6 April 2014, the standard rate of statutory sick pay increases from £86.70 to £87.55 per week and Small Employers will no longer be able to reclaim any SSP from HMRC, as the Percentage Threshold Scheme for recovery of SSP is being abolished from 6th April 2014.

It is important that businesses are aware of these changes, and should any further information be required, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Employment Team on 01978 291000 for Wrexham, 01244 312166 for Chester or 01492 641222 for Llanrwst.

               Gerallt Hughes, Director and head of Employment Law.

Melissa Bramwell, a member of our Employment Law team.