The new rates will be:

• Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) increases from £81.60 to £85.85
• Statutory Maternity, Paternity & Adoption Pay increases from £128.73 to £135.45

Give us a call for any advice on this or any other HR issue

PATERNITY LEAVE
Additional paternity leave was introduced from 6 April 2011. Additional paternity leave can be taken 20 weeks after the child is born. It must finish before the child’s first birthday. Until now, fathers have only been entitled to two weeks paid paternity leave, but the new additional leave allows eligible employed fathers or partners to take an extra 26 weeks leave to care for the baby, if the mother returns to work before the end of her maternity leave.

RETIREMENT AGE
The default retirement age has now been phased out, meaning that employers are no longer allowed to dismiss staff because they have reached the age of 65. With this change from the Government we encourage employers to hold ongoing communications with their staff to establish their plans, since employees now have the power to decide their own retirement date.

AGENCY WORKERS
On 1 October 2011 the Agency Workers Regulations came into force. These require that the basic working and employment conditions of agency workers are no less favourable than if the workers had been recruited directly by the business. The equal treatment entitlements relate to pay and other basic working conditions and comes into effect after an agency worker completes a 12-week qualifying period.

LOOKING AHEAD
This year will be an important one for employment legislation and businesses should keep their policies up-to-date and review them regularly.

UNFAIR DISMISSAL
From 6 April 2012 employees will require two years’ service before they can bring an Employment Tribunal claim for unfair dismissal. If employees are unable to bring an unfair dismissal claim they may try to find a discrimination angle so that they can bring a claim.

PENSIONS
Between October 2012 and October 2016, all UK employers will have to pay into a pension scheme for their staff. All companies must automatically enrol all employees into a pension scheme which both parties pay into. This will only apply to employees earning more than £7,500 and who have been with the company for three months or more.

PARENTAL LEAVE
In March, parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child increases from three to four months. At least one of the four months will not be transferable between parents.

It can cause so much disruption to the business when one member of staff phones in sick. It is therefore important to ensure that it is well managed and absence levels kept under control. If you have employees who are regularly off sick it can really affect the morale of those who are left to cover their workload, and staff can see managers failing to deal with it as a weakness in their leadership.

Steps to take
Your absence policy should set out what the business expects from employees, explaining what they must do if they are sick, who they must contact and by what time. I would also recommend including this procedure in the employment contract discussed at induction.
One way to start controlling absence is by conducting a return-to-work interview on the employee’s first day back at work, even if they have only been off for one day.Managers need to be investigative and counselling in their approach during the interview, to help uncover any underlying health or work problems an employee might have. The purpose of the interview is to:

• Enable the employee to explain the reason for their absence.
• Ensure the employee is well enough to be back at work and see if they need any further support. In the case of a long-term sick absence, or recovery from a serious or traumatic illness, some people may benefit from coming back on different hours to help them readjust to work.
• Assess whether the reason given is genuine.
• Complete a return-to-work interview form.
• Emphasise the importance of attendance and why it is continually monitored.
• Raise any concerns about their attendance record and decide if further action is needed.

You must be fair and consistent, and treat all staff the same. By regularly monitoring absence all you will start to see a decline in staff sick days, which will save you money.

The new rates will be:
£6.08 per hour – workers 21 and over
£4.98 per hour – workers 18-20
£3.68 per hour – workers 16-17 above school leaving age but under 18
£2.60 per hour – for apprentices under 19, or 19 or over and in the first year of an apprentice

As an employer, if you hire temporary agency workers through a temporary work agency, you will need to provide the agency with up-to-date information on your terms and conditions so that it can ensure that the agency worker receives the correct equal treatment, after 12 weeks in the same job.

Equal treatment
Once the agency worker completes a 12-week qualifying period with you, in the same role, they will be entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the company. These are:

• pay
• duration of working time
• night work
• rest periods
• rest breaks
• annual leave

As the business owner you are responsible for ensuring that all agency workers can access your facilities and have access to your job vacancies from the first day they work at your setting.

Pregnant agency workers who have completed the 12- week qualifying period will be entitled to paid time off for antenatal appointments.

Calculating the qualifying period

The qualifying period is triggered by working in the same job with the same hirer for 12 calendar weeks. A calendar week is any period of seven days, starting with the first day of an assignment. Calendar weeks will be accrued regardless of how many hours the worker does on a weekly basis. So if an agency worker is on assignment for only a couple of hours a week, it still counts as a week and they will be entitled to equal treatment after 12 calendar weeks.

An agency worker can bring a claim for compensation to a tribunal if they are not receiving their entitlement under the regulations. The compensation would be equal to the losses they had suffered because they did not receive it. If the worker successfully brings a claim for failing to provide the benefits from day one, the liability will be solely with the hirer.

If you are going to hire agency workers, seek advice to ensure you follow the regulations.

At this event, a female employee who was already in a personal relationship with another employee of the firm caused a stir. She was seen kissing the IT Manager, and at the end of the evening they were seen leaving together and alledgedly shared a hotel room.

Shortly after the new year, the female employee informed her employers of her pregnancy. On finding this out, a suggestion was made by the HR Manager about the paternity of the baby. According to the female employee, the HR Manager had also been gossiping and spreading rumours about her pregnancy, which resulted in the IT Manager asking for clarification as to the paternity of the baby.

The female employee issued employment tribunal proceedings claiming sex and pregnancy discrimination, harassment and constructive dismissal. The EAT found that this did constitute sexual and pregnancy related discrimination and the behaviour from the HR Manager was unacceptable.

This case reminds employers about their legal responsibility for the behaviour of their employees, especially during and after any social events. It also highlights the importance of ensuring grievances are dealt with promptly and swiftly.

• Protection against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• Clarification of protected characteristics – these are the grounds on which discrimination can occur. This now includes: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage & civil partnerships, Pregnancy & maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex and Sexual orientation.
• Changing the definition of gender reassignment to include an individual who has started, proposes to start, or has completed a process to change his or her gender. The individual does not need to be under medical supervision to be protected.
• Associative & perceptive discrimination – Associative discrimination means discriminating against individuals who associate with an individual with a protected characteristic. E.G. an employee who cares for a disabled relative. Perceptive discrimination means discriminating again individuals who it is thought or perceived to have a protected characteristic.
• New concept of ‘discrimination’
• arising from disability
• Ban on pre-employment health questionnaires
• Extended protection from third party harassment, to all protected characteristics
• Making pay secrecy clauses unenforceable

What do you need to do as an employer?

• Review your equal opportunities policy.
• Review your application form
• Ensure that your managers and employees are aware of the changes.
• Reduce risk of discrimination in recruitment e.g., have clear job descriptions; ensure that interview questions are related to job/skills.
• Do not issue any further pre-employment health questionnaires.
• Take action if an employee alerts you to 3rd party harassment.
• Ensure that any secrecy clauses are removed from contracts of employment.