UK: Changes to employment law in force 6 April 2014

Employers should bear in mind the following changes which apply from 6 April 2014 (click on the links for summaries of the changes in previous ebulletins):

• Annual increase to tribunal compensation limits and statutory benefit rates.
• Introduction of tribunal discretion to order financial penalties for losing employers where aggravated breach.
• Increase to employment tribunal fees for some claims: the Government has reclassified certain claims from type A to type B (attracting the higher tribunal fee levels). Claims for equal pay, sex equality in pension schemes, failure to inform or consult under TUPE, failure to allow compensatory rest under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and breach of the right to request time off for training will now all require an issue fee of £250 and hearing fee of £950.
• Acas early conciliation regime is available under transitional provisions, although claimants are not obliged to submit an EC form to Acas for claims prior to 6 May. Acas guidance on the new procedure is available here.
• Abolition of statutory discrimination questionnaire forms.  Employers should ensure managers are aware of this change and that they should still involve HR if they receive questions pertinent to a possible discrimination claim from an employee or ex-employee, given that a tribunal may still take an employer's response into account generally.
• Abolition of employers' recoupment of statutory sick pay, along with abolition of the obligation to keep SSP records for 3 years.
• Change to pension rights on a TUPE transfer to reflect auto enrolment.
• MPs have been added to the list of prescribed persons to which whistleblowing disclosures can be made (provided the conditions for disclosure to other prescribed persons apply).
• The 2014 Budget included measures to address the artificial use of dual contracts for non-domciles and to ensure appropriate tax and NIC payments where employment intermediaries are used.  More details of the Budget are available here.