This document provides a summary of recent and upcoming changes to UK employment law and HR legislation. It is divided into sections on current implemented changes, short-term changes due in late 2015, and long-term changes due from 2016 onwards. Some of the key points mentioned include increases to the national minimum wage, the rollout of the Fit for Work service for sickness absence management, restrictions on tribunal powers in discrimination cases, and upcoming requirements for gender pay gap reporting and modern slavery disclosures.

1. The latest changes in
Employment Law
& HR Legislation
YOURGUIDETO
December 2015 Edition

2. 1
Contents
HR and Employment Law
Current - Implemented recently or due immenently 2
Short/Medium Term - Due Late 2015 3
Long Term - Due from 2016 onwards 4-5
Tribunal Cases of Interest / Recent Case Law / Topical Employment Law 6
The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Lisa Gillespie
HR Services Director
Andrew Weir
Employer Services Manager
Ruth Deakin
Policy & Consultancy Manager
Wendy Morris
Insurance and Claims Manager
Our Experts

3. 2 The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Legislation Due Date Summary
Current Legislation –
Recently implemented or due imminently
Children and
Families Act
2014/ partner
attendance at
ante-natal
appointments
01 October
2014
Legislation Due Date Summary
New National
Minimum Wage
rates
1 Oct 2015 Hourly Rate Current
(2014)
Recommended
increase
Actual Increase From
October 2015
% £ % £
Workers aged 16-17 £3.79 2.2 8p 2.2 8p £3.87
Youth Development
(Workers aged 18-20)
£5.13 3.3 17p 3.3 17p £5.30
Apprentices £2.73 2.6 7p 20.0 57p £3.30
Adult £6.50 3.0 20p 3.0 20p £6.70
Accommodation
Offset (daily rate)
£5.08 5.3 27p 5.3 27p £5.35
Here, you will notice the Apprentice rate has received a significant increase this year.
Sickness Absence
Management – new
“Fit For Work(FFW)
Service”
Currently
being rolled
out with
completion
expected by
the end of 2015
The service is currently being rolled out in England and Wales. Separate provisions apply in
Scotland and the scheme does apply in Northern Ireland. It aims to address the health of
employees who have been absent from work for over four weeks. It is a service which will be
available for all employers and the roll out is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.
Use of the service will not be mandatory but there will be two major elements to it:
• A health and work telephone helpline and online support for employers, employees and
GPs.
• Access to state-funded occupational health assessments for employees on a period of
sickness absence lasting four weeks or more. Assessments will aim to identify the cause
of continued absence and produce a treatment plan incorporating a return to work
timetable. Referrals to the service will be allowed from both GPs and employers.
• Employers will be able to claim up to £500 tax relief on payments for medical treatment
for their employees where the treatment has been recommended under the scheme.
The Government has produced 3 sets of guidance notes for GPs, employers and employees
which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fit-for-work-guidance
Deregulation Act
2015
1 October 2015 The power of Tribunals to make ‘wider recommendations’ in successful discrimination
cases, for example to introduce a ‘Diversity Policy’ has been abolished. Tribunals will retain
power to make recommendations which benefit the individual claimant, but not the wider
employer workforce.
The right for Sikhs to wear turbans instead of safety helmets on building sites has been
expanded to include all workplaces (with some particular exceptions contained in the Act).
Self Employed people are now exempt from Health & Safety laws if they have no
employees (subject to particular exceptions contained in the Act).
Zero Hour
Contracts
October 2015 The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has produced a guide for employers on
zero hour contracts. It can be found here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/zero-hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers/zero-
hours-contracts-guidance-for-employers

4. 3 The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Legislation Due Date Summary
Short/Medium Term Legislation –
Due Autumn 2015
Modern Slavery
Disclosure
Expected
October 2015
New legislation will require organisations carrying on business in the UK with a turnover of
£36 million or more to publicly report steps they have taken to ensure their operations and
supply chains are trafficking and slavery free.
Modern slavery includes forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking. It can involve
situations where migrant workers take loans to pay for their travel to the UK with a view
to repaying it from their earnings on arrival. Reputable employers may be satisfied that
their own UK operations are slavery-free, but they may be less clear about their supply
chains and other business relationships such as franchises, out-sourcing partners and joint-
ventures.
For further information or guidance on
how this legislation affects your business,
call us now on 0845 073 0260

5. 4 The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Legislation Due Date Summary
Long Term Legislation -
Late 2015 onwards
Trade Union Bill Date to be
decided,
subject to
Parliamentary
process
The Government is consulting on changes to Trace Union laws, aimed at limiting the
impact of industrial action on employers. The proposals include:
• Industrial action to require a 50% turnout.
• 40% of eligible voters must vote in favour of industrial action which affects
important public services.
• Lifting the ban on the use of agency staff to cover striking workers.
• 4 month time limit on a strike mandate, after which a further ballot would be
required.
• Notice of a strike to be increased from 7 to 14 days.
If implemented, this would be welcome news for employers who stand to be affected by
industrial action. Consultation on the Bill closes on 9 September 2015.
Enterprise Bill Date to be
decided subject
to
arliamentary
Process
The Government has recently published a new bill, the employment law aspects of which
are:
• The power to introduce a cap on public sector exit payments of £95,000.
• Making it a criminal offence to use the term ‘apprentice’ for anything other than a
statutory apprenticeship.
Mandatory
Gender Pay Gap
Reporting
Date to be
decided,
subject to
Parliamentary
process
The Government is consulting over measures to force companies with more than 250
employees to provide statistics on the gap between male and female pay. The aim of
the consultation is to seek views on what data will be required and how this might be
presented. It is likely that reporting will be phased in, with the largest employers first.
Recent statistics show that the gender pay gap narrowed in 2014 to 9.4%, compared with
10% in 2013. In 1997 the figure was 17.4%.
Consultation ends in September 2015.
Consultation on
Tax Treatment of
Termination
Payments
Date to be
decided,
subject to
Parliamentary
process
The Government is consulting on changes to the tax regime for termination payments.
Currently the first £30,000 of non-contractual termination payments is tax and NI free.
The government is consulting on:
• Removing the distinction between contractual and non-contractual payments, so that
for example Pay in Lieu of Notice would not attract tax.
• Setting the tax free limit to take account of an employee’s service.
• Introducing a qualifying period so that those with under two years’ service would not
be eligible for the tax free limit.
• Making injury to feelings award eligible for tax.
For further information or guidance on
how this legislation affects your business,
call us now on 0845 073 0260

6. 5 The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Legislation Due Date Summary
Long Term Legislation –
Late 2015 onwards
Small Business
Enterprise and
Employment Act
2015
Date to be
decided, subject
to Parliamentary
process
Will require ‘prescribed persons’ for whistleblowing purposes (essentially regulatory
bodies) to report annually on the whistleblowing disclosures they receive.
Will impose financial penalties for employers who do not pay a Tribunal award or ACAS
negotiated Settlement. The penalties are expected to be in the order of 50% of the sum
awarded/settlement sum with a minimum of £100 and maximum of £5000.
Will limit the number of postponements granted in Tribunal proceedings.
Enterprise and
Regulatory
Reform Act 2013/
Equality Act
2010/
Caste
Discrimination
Expected to be
implemented
late 2015
The Government is required by a provision in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act to
amend the Equality Act to make “Caste” a form of unlawful discrimination.
Separately, an Employment Tribunal has recently awarded £184,000 in the UK’s first
successful caste discrimination claim. Although ‘Caste’ (The caste system, prevalent in
some Asian Countries, divides people into groups or ‘castes’ based on their birth and
allocates fixed hereditary rights to each group) is not yet specifically provided for in the
Equality Act 2010, the Employment Tribunal held that ‘ethnic origin’ in the Equality Act
was wide enough to include Caste.
The Government has been criticised for failing to implement the proposed amendments
to the Equality Act to include Caste, but as this recent Judgment illustrates, the current
law on Equality is capable of being construed to include the characteristic.
Shared Parental
Leave for
Grandparents
Expected 2018,
subject to
Parliamentary
process
The Government has announced its intention to extend current parental leave rights to
Grandparents, emphasising the important role that Grandparents play in modern family
life.
For further information or guidance on
how this legislation affects your business,
call us now on 0845 073 0260

7. 6 The latest changes in Employment Law & HR Legislation
Legislation Summary
Tribunal Cases of Interest / Recent Case
Law / Topical Employment Law Issues
The EAT has recently confirmed that it is possible for a whistleblowing claim to be brought where this concerns
complaints brought by workers about alleged breaches of their contracts of employment. In the Underwood case
this concerned four lorry drivers who had alleged that they had made a protected disclosure about overtime not
being distributed fairly in breach of their contracts of employment.
The law on Whistleblowing is designed to protect workers who disclose matters that are in the ‘public interest’.
The case relied to an extent on a previous case involving 100 senior managers of the firm Chestertons, where the
EAT decided that the 100 senior managers were a ‘section of the public’ and should be afforded protection under
Whistleblowing law. It should be noted that the Chestertons case is the subject of an appeal which will not be
heard until October 2016.
Whistleblowing &
Breach of Contract
– Underwood v
Wincanton Plc
This case highlights the importance of employers remaining consistent with disciplinary sanctions. In this case,
two employees had been involved in an altercation during a corporate social event.
One employee punched the other in the face, following which the other employee reacted by sending a text
threatening to ‘rip your f*ing head off’. The latter was given a final warning, the former dismissed. The Tribunal
who heard the case upheld the dismissal indicating that the employer had not been consistent.
The EAT, however, overturned this decision, indicating that the Tribunal had failed to consider whether the
misconduct of the two employees were in truly parallel circumstances and that had they done so they would
have concluded that a physical assault was entirely different from a subsequent verbal threat which was never
carried out.
The case however emphasises the importance for employers to ensure consistency of treatment in respect of
disciplinary sanctions.
Unfair Dismissal
& Consistency –
MBNA Ltd v Jones
For further information or guidance on
how this legislation affects your business,
call us now on 0845 073 0260

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