To be kept up to date with relevant pieces of news, please register here for our free newsletter
Changes in Employment Tribunals
There has been some press coverage recently about changes in the way employment Tribunals operate. The 3 main changes are as follows:
1 With effect from 6th April 2012 employees who commence continuous employment after this date will have to wait for 2 years before being able to bring a claim of unfair dismissal. They will of course be able to bring discrimination claims with any (or no!) length of service. It is possible that we will see claims that would previously have been brought as unfair dismissal being presented in the form of discrimination claims.
2 From April this year claims that are for just unfair dismissal will normally be heard by an Employment Judge only, with no lay members present. The hope is that this will result in a cost saving to the service as well as a reducing in the time bringing cases to a hearing.
3 The Government is currently consulting on plans to introduce fees for bringing claims to tribunal. This change is due to come into place in April 2013 with possible fee levels ranging from £150 to £1750 dependant on the amount being claimed. There is also provision for losing parties being required to reimburse the fees of the winning party. Full details can be found at http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/consultations/charging-fees-in-et-and-eat.pdf
National Minimum Wage
With effect from 1st October 2011 the rates for the National Minimum Wage will be:
- £6.08 per hour for employees aged 21 and over;
- £4.98 per hour for 18-20 year olds; and
- £3.68 per hour for 16-17 year olds
- apprentices aged below 19 or any age for the first 12 months of apprenticeship will increase by 10p to £2.60 an hour
Calculation of a week's pay
With effect from 1st February 2012 when calcualting a week's pay for redundancy and other purposes the maximum amount of pay that can be taken into account is £430 per week.
Changing Contracts of Employment
An interesting judgement from the EAT has been announced concerning the ability of an employer to unilaterally change terms and conditions of employment.
In the case of Bateman and others V Asda Stores the EAT found that where there was an appropriate clause in the Employee Handbook stating that Asda "reserved the right to review, revise, amend or replace the contents of this handbook, and introduce new policies from time to time reflecting the changing needs of the business..." that this meant they could impose new terms and conditions of employment without the employees’ consent if necessary.
This judgement does not give an employer an unlimited right to change terms and conditions of employment. Any change must be reasonable and not imposed “capriciously, or arbitrarily, or in any way which breached mutual trust and confidence”.
If you would like a review of your employee documentation to ensure it provides you with the flexibility necessary to respond to changing business needs then please contact us to discuss how we can assist you review your documentation.