Employment law forecast for 2012
7 February 2012
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Keeping up with changes in employment law can often be an onerous task for small-business owners and many think that laws favour employees over employers. However 2011 ended on a positive note as the Government announced ‘radical reforms' to make it easier for employers to recruit. Find out more about these and other changes you can expect to see in 2012.
The majority of law changes will come into effect in the first half of the year, coinciding with the 6 April common commencement date.  The only exception to this is the increase in statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay from £128.73 to £135.45 per week, which comes into effect from 1 April.
 
The rate for calculating statutory sick pay will increase from £81.60 to £85.85 per week from 6 April.
 

Unfair dismissal and tribunal changes

The big employment news at the end of last year was the Government's announcement that it would increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one to two years and change the tribunal procedure. For the first time, a fee will of £250 will be introduced for bringing a case to tribunal and a further £1,000 will be charged if their claim is accepted and given a hearing date.
 
It has now been confirmed that both of these changes, which are designed to give employers more time to deal with new employees who are underperforming and to make it easier to terminate employment without of vexatious claims being brought against them, will come into force from 6 April 2012.
 
It is not expected that changes to unfair dismissal will be retrospective, so they will only apply to employees who commence their employment after 6 April 2012.
 

Pensions auto-entrolment

The headline news for October's common commencement date will be the introduction of auto-enrolment of all eligible employees into a pension scheme. However, this will only affect large businesses initially, plus it was recently announced that businesses employing 50 or fewer workers will now have an extra year to apply the new rules, as they will start to come into effect from 2015, not 2014.
 
This is great news for smaller firms, who will feel the administrative burden more than most. We advise businesses to use this extra year to help them prepare by slowly introducing pension changes into the business over the next three years.
 

Legislation to be confirmed

As well as the changes to unfair dismissal and tribunal rules, other proposed changes to come out of the government consultation on workplace disputes include proposals to refer all claims to the conciliation service Acas in the first instance and a £5,000 cap on tribunal awards when an employer breaches employment rights, which can be reduced by 50% when paid within 21 days.
 
There have also been some pieces of legislation that have been in the offing for a while. Some were even postponed shortly after the Coalition Government came into power, but could still be likely to be introduced in the next year.
 
These include a scaled down vetting and barring scheme for individuals working with children and vulnerable adults, the right to request 'time to train' for organisations with fewer than 250 employees and flexible working for parents of children under 18.
 
Also on the cards are plans to reform the Government's Access to Work scheme, which would allow disabled people to apply for jobs with secured funding for adaptations or equipment that will assist them in performing a role.
 
Plus, whistleblowing legislation will also be amended so that employees can no longer make a protected disclosure about a breach of their employment contract.
 
We will bring you more news on these changes as soon as it becomes available via our email newsletter. If you don't already receive the newsletter, join the Forum as a free Introductory member.
 
For further advice and guidance on employment law and legislation changes, Intermediate and Advanced members can call our help line on 0845 130 1722 to speak to an adviser.


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