Employment Advice Update: May 2010

The past 6 months have seen several changes to our Employment Advice Service and we regret that we have not been able to provide our regular update bulletins.
 
However, with the extension of the service from Employment to Employment and HR matters, we are now pleased to be able to bring you the updates once more.
 
If you need any further information on these on any other HR matters, please contact Abby, Jane or Maggie on 01347 825710 or email employment.advice@nyfvo.org.uk
 
Policies update

Travel disruption
Over the past few years we have had the foot and mouth outbreak, floods, rail strikes and severe snow, all of which caused travel disruption. So has this prompted you to implement a policy on what to do when employees cannot get into work for reasons beyond their control? If not, it may interest you to know that ACAS has a new 'volcanic ash' briefing for employers and individuals. It reviews the law and good practice on whether you need to pay employees who can't get to work for such reasons and can be found at www.acas.org.uk

The World Cup and absence management
As the 2010 World Cup is almost upon us, many employees across will be looking wanting to watch some of the matches. Although employers' obligations are confined to matters inside the workplace, it can help morale if employers show an interest in the employees' life outside work. In light of this you might want to think about ways in which you can avoid or alleviate any problems. We have some guidance (from CIPD) which is available to download below. Some of these suggestions may not be feasible, depending on the size and structure of your organisation, but the article provides some useful reading whatever the makeup of your organisation.
downloadable .pdf The World Cup and absence management
 
Additional paternity leave for fathers - 6 April 2010 
Under the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 fathers or partners of mothers or adopters can take paternity leave of up to 26 weeks in the first year of their child's life or the first year after the child's placement for adoption, where the expected week of birth is on or after 3 April 2011. The weekly rate of pay for additional statutory paternity is £124.88 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower.
 
Fit notes
The introduction of the new 'fit' notes allows the GP to state his/her opinion on whether an employee 'may be fit for work', or, 'is not fit for work.'  If they state that the employee 'may be fit to work' they will specify what this means, for example, a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties, or workplace adaptations.  This is providing these options are available and with your agreement. For more information go to www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote/
 
We will be launching workshops on this and hope to have more details by the end of July. 
 
Health and Safety - Stress Management
How well do you handle stress at work? The Health and Safety Executive, CIPD and Investors in people have got together to design a questionnaire which will allow managers to gain an idea of how competent their practices are at handling stress in the workplace. Log on to www.hse.gov.uk/stress to begin. 
 
Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act received Royal Assent on 8 April. The legislation is the end result of a consultation process which started in 2005 with the aim of harmonising existing discrimination law in addition to adding new provisions. Previously, separate legislation covered discrimination in relation to the protected characteristics of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief and age. The Act encompasses discrimination legislation in relation to all the protected characteristics in one statute and sets out what is broadly a common approach across the various forms of discrimination.
 
One example of this is the harmonisation of various definitions including the concepts of justification, indirect discrimination and disability-related discrimination. Other measures include: new provisions to deal with claims relating to discrimination on the basis of more than one protected characteristic (e.g.. sex and race); the introduction of an "occupational requirement" defence across all protected characteristics; limits to the enforceability of pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts; and the introduction of a power to require large employers to report on gender pay gaps within their organisation.
 
At the time the Act received Royal Assent it was intended that the main provisions would come into force in October this year. However, in light of the change of government the future of the Act is unclear. The Conservatives had previously indicated that, although the party is not wholly opposed to the Act, they would not bring into force several of the provisions, including those relating to gender pay gap reporting. The Liberal Democrats have been historically supportive of the Act but what will happen to it under the coalition government remains unclear.
 
There is an awful lot of information and guidance coming through at the moment on this Act and we will deal with each issue as it comes into force. We hope to bring you a more comprehensive update by mid to end June.
 
Meanwhile, for anyone who has the time or inclination to read the explanatory notes, the following link will take you to the 215 document: www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2010 

Flexible Working
The right to request flexible working now applies to employees with a child under the age of 17 (or 18 if the child is disabled).

Current Statutory Entitlements
The National Minimum Wage is £5.80 for employees aged 22 and older, £4.83 for employees aged 18 - 21, £3.57 for employees 16-17. 
 
Statutory Redundancy Pay rate is:
0.5 weeks pay for each year of service for employees under 22 of age
1 weeks pay for each year of service for employees aged 22 to 40
1.5 weeks pay for each year of service for employees aged 41 and older
(One weeks pay is limited to a maximum of £380)
 
Statutory Maternity Pay is paid for 39 weeks at £124.88 per week or 90% of the employee's average gross weekly earnings, whichever is the lower. Employees may be entitled to 90% of their salary (no upper limit) for the first 6 weeks subject to average weekly earnings. 

Statutory Paternity Pay is paid to employees with average weekly gross earnings of £97 or more (before tax). The payment is for 2 consecutive weeks at 90% of the employee's weekly earnings or £124.88, whichever is the lower.