There are a number of employment law changes which came into effect on the 6th April 2014.
A summary of these changes is set out below:
Acas conciliation
The Acas early conciliation procedure will be introduced.
Discrimination questionnaires
Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 (which deals with discrimination questionnaires) will be repealed.
Employment tribunals
- Employment tribunals will be given the power to impose a financial penalty on employers who lose at tribunal of 50% of any financial award, with a minimum threshold of £100 and a maximum cap of £5,000.
- Employment tribunal compensation limits will increase. For example, the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will rise from £74,200 to £76,574.
Pay and benefits
Several social security benefits and payments will increase by 1%. For example:
- The rate of statutory sick pay will increase to £87.55 (up from £86.70).
- The rate of statutory maternity pay will increase to £138.18 (up from £136.78).
- The rates of statutory adoption pay, statutory paternity pay, and additional statutory paternity pay will increase to £138.18 (up from £136.78).
Sickness absence
- The government will abolish the statutory sick pay record-keeping obligations and allow employers to keep records in a flexible manner more suited to their organisation.
- Employers will no longer be able to reclaim their SSP from the State in excess of the 13% NI contributions that month.
Employers should ensure that they are abreast of the current changes.
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