Browne Jacobson LLP HR for Education Conference 2017 - 4th October 2017 Keynote 1 - Comprehensive employment law update - Heather Mitchell Ensure you are fully compliant with all the recent and upcoming legal changes.

1. HR for Education 2017
Employment law update keynote

2. Employment law update 2017
Heather Mitchell, Associate
Join the conversation #BJ_HREd

3. Overview
• Employment tribunal fees
• Brexit
• Case law updates
• Teacher pay
• Gender pay gap reporting

4. Employment tribunal fees

5. Fees
Parliament.gov.uk

6. Cases received by employment tribunals
House of Commons Briefing Paper 7081

7. Supreme Court ruling

8. Immediate consequences
• Fees have been abolished
• Fees paid since 2013 are repayable
• Old claims that previously couldn’t be afforded will be
brought?

9. The future
• Alternative fee regime?
• An 79% increase in claims?

10. Brexit

11. Employment law to change?
Perhaps, but not just yet
• Article 50 triggered at the end of March 2017 – UK to leave
EU by 29 March 2019
• 2-year negotiation period (extensions can be agreed with EU)
during which EU law will still apply
• The Great Repeal Bill was introduced to the Commons in July
2017
• The Bill is expected to come into force on leaving the EU,
automatically transferring all EU Law into UK law

12. Government pledges
• In theory, the Great Repeal Bill would allow existing
employment law to be stripped back after March 2019,
particularly employment rights contained in secondary
legislation (agency worker protection, working time
regulations etc.)
• However, PM and Secretary of State for Brexit have made
assurances that UK employment law will remain untouched

13. What about EU staff?
• Currently around 2.9 million citizens of other EU countries
living in the UK - 82% of these are working
• Still have the right to live and work freely in the UK
• Right of permanent residency?
• Rights of non-EU skilled workers
– Refusal to hire EU candidates is grounds for discrimination
before Brexit implementation date
• The end of free movement?

14. What about UK workers?
• Over 1.3 million UK nationals also live abroad in EU countries
• British expats could lose right to visa-free employment in
EU/EEA countries
• Employers may find they have to comply with more
restrictive rules for employees based outside UK

15. The future
• The assurances of the prime minister does not bind her
government, even less so future governments
• Long term, there is a possibility that some of the more
unpopular EU derived regulations, such as agency worker
regulations or holiday pay, may be amended
• In the short term, it is important to remember that freedom
of movement is by no means guaranteed, particularly if a
‘hard-Brexit’ occurs in March 2019

16. Case law updates

17. Case update – Reasonable adjustments
G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Ltd v Powell
I want to be employed in
a more junior position
but be paid the same

18. Case update - Dismissal
City of York Council v Grosset 2017
Employee shows 18 rated
film to vulnerable
students, is there any
risk in dismissing?

19. Case update - Suspension
Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth [2017]
Can suspension ever
really be a neutral act?

20. Case update – the Christmas party
Bellman v Northampton Recruitment ET 2016
If your employees need
to get into a fight, they
should probably do it
after 3am

21. Teacher Pay

22. STPCD 2017
This years’ changes are:
• Main scale 2% uplift on maximum and minimum
• All other 1%

23. Glisser – vote now
Have you moved away from the 6 point main scale?

24. Gender Pay Gap reporting

25. The obligation
• requirement since 31 March 2017
• 250 employees (including ‘workers’)
• publication must be within 12 months
• publish a statement on the website; and
• to the government for publication online

26. What needs to be published?
• the difference in mean and median hourly pay between male
and female full-pay employees;
• the difference in mean and median bonus pay between male
and female employees;
• the proportion of male and female employees receiving a
bonus payment; and
• the proportion of male and female full-pay employees in
each 4 pay quartiles

27. Virgin money

28. Virgin money

29. Virgin money

30. Virgin money

31. Online resources
www.brownejacobson.com/education

32. Get in touch
Heather Mitchell | +44 (0)20 7871 8511
heather.mitchell@brownejacobson.com
Please note
The information contained in these notes is based on the position at October
2017. It does, of course, only represent a summary of the subject matter covered
and is not intended to be a substitute for detailed advice. If you would like to
discuss any of the matters covered in further detail, our team would be happy to
do so.
© Browne Jacobson LLP 2017. Browne Jacobson LLP is a limited liability
partnership.