Spring has sprung, and with it comes a fresh bunch of employment law changes.
Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
Shared Parental Leave, Maternity and Adoption Leave 2014 Regulations came into force on 5 April 2015 for parents of children born or matched for adoption on or after 5 April 2015.
The detail:
- Mothers must take at least two weeks maternity leave immediately following the birth. The remaining 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay can be shared by both parents.
- The husband, civil partner or partner of the pregnant women has the right to unpaid time off to attend up to two ante-natal appointments.
- Surrogate parents can take ordinary and shared parental leave and pay. Both parents may also take unpaid time off to attend two ante-natal appointments.
- Parents with children under 18 have the right to take unpaid parental leave.
Some points to consider when building a procedure include:
Who is eligible for SPL and how will it work?
- What is the procedure for notifying intent to take SPL?
- What is the procedure for taking/booking SPL?
- What is SPL pay and who is entitled?
- What contractual arrangements should be in place during SPL?
- What annual leave are employees entitled to?
- What contact can an employer have during SPL?
- Is an employee entitled to keeping in touch days?
- What should happen on return from SPL?
- What do employers need to consider in regards to any possible sexual discrimination claims that could arise if they offer enhanced maternity pay, but not adoption or paternity pay?
Adoption Leave
Adoptive parents’ rights are enhanced to be more closely aligned with those of mothers taking maternity leave.
Currently, to qualify for adoption leave, an employee must have 26 weeks’ service with the employer. From 5 April 2015, this continuous service requirement for adoption leave will no longer apply. Further, the amount of statutory adoption pay (as detailed below) will increase and adopters will be entitled to paid time off work to attend appointments to have contact with the child, as detailed below.
Time off for Adoption Appointments
From 5 April 2015, employees who are adopting either alone or jointly are entitled to time off during working hours to attend adoption appointments. There is no service eligibility requirement for this entitlement.
All appointments must take place before the start of the child’s placement and have been arranged by the adoption agency. An employee who is adopting alone is entitled to paid time off, whereas an employee who is adopting jointly with another person can choose to take paid time off or unpaid time off. If one employee in the couple chooses to take paid time off, the other employee is restricted to taking unpaid time off.
An employee opting for paid time off is able to attend up to five adoption appointments, whereas an employee taking unpaid time off is only allowed to attend two appointments.
An employer can request that the employee provides confirmation of the date and time of the appointment and that it has been arranged by the adoption agency. Where an employer makes such a request, the employee is not entitled to take the time off that they have requested unless they provide that confirmation.
Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay
From 5 April 2015, the standard weekly rate of statutory maternity pay, paternity pay and adoption pay will increase from £138.18 to £139.58. Statutory shared parental pay will be payable at the same rate.
Take Action: You will need to update your maternity/paternity/adoption and parental leave policies and processes to reflect all the above changes.
Statutory sick pay increases
From 6 April 2015, the weekly rate of statutory sick pay will increase from £87.55 to £88.45.
Take Action: You will need to update your sickness absence policy.
Minimum Wage
From 1 October 2015 the national minimum wage will increase to £6.70 and for apprentices it will increase to £3.30 an hour.
The hourly rate for younger workers will also rise: 18- to 20-year-olds will increase to £5.30 and to £3.87 for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Take Action: You will need to notify all impacted employees.
Limits on unfair dismissal tribunal awards increase
From 6 April, the limits on the amount of compensation that an employment tribunal can award for unfair dismissal increase. So the limit on the compensatory award and the amount of “a week’s pay” for calculating the basic and additional award will rise.
The rise in the limit on the amount of a week’s pay also affects redundancy payments.
The new limits will apply to dismissals where the effective date of termination is on or after 6 April 2015. Where the dismissal falls before this date, the old rates will apply, regardless of the date on which a Tribunal orders compensation.
The detail:
- £475 will be the maximum amount of a week’s pay for calculating statutory redundancy pay and the basic award for unfair dismissal (up from £464);
- £14,250 will be the largest possible statutory redundancy payment or basic award (up from £13,920);
- £78,335 will be the maximum compensatory award which can be made after a successful “ordinary” unfair dismissal claim (up from £76,574); and
- £92,585 is the maximum potential award for unfair dismissal when the basic and compensatory awards are combined (up from £90,494).
Take Action: Ensure you are applying the above when calculating redundancy payments and if applicable update your Redundancy Policy.
Tax Free Child Care
The proposed Tax-Free Childcare Scheme is scheduled to be introduced in Autumn 2015. This will replace the current Childcare Voucher Scheme, which would be closed to new entrants if the Tax-Free Childcare Scheme is launched. Existing members of the Childcare Voucher scheme will have the option to continue with the voucher scheme or switch to the new Tax-Free scheme.
10 things parents should know about the Tax-Free scheme:
- You’ll be able to open an online account, which you can pay into to cover the cost of childcare with a registered provider. This will be done through the government website, GOV.UK.
- For every 80p you or someone else pays in, the government will top up an extra 20p
- The scheme will be available for children up to the age of 12
- To qualify, parents will have to be in work, earning just over an average of £50 a week and not more than £150,000 per year
- Any eligible working family can use the Tax-Free Childcare scheme – it doesn’t rely on employers offering it
- The scheme will also be available for parents who are self-employed
- If you currently receive Employer-Supported Childcare then you can continue to do so
- Parents and others can pay money into their childcare account as and when they like
- The process will be as simple as possible for parents
- You’ll be able to withdraw money from the account if you want to
Take Action: Advise employees of the above and if you currently provide childcare vouchers advise those employees who are not currently part of the Childcare Voucher Scheme to consider joining now to have the choice of both schemes should the changes occur.
Tribunal Claims down by 70%
According to recent research by the CIPD there has been a 70% drop in tribunal claims brought by employees since the introduction of fees in 2013 (which require employees to pay up to £1,200 to bring a claim).
According to the CIPD report, Conflict Management: A Shift in Direction? – employers are split as to whether or not the introduction of the fees to deter weak or vexatious claims have been a positive move. Of the 1,000 employers surveyed 38% said they would like fees to remain as they are whilst 36% said the fees should be either significantly reduced or abolished altogether.
Mike Emmott, CIPD employee relations adviser, called the drop in claims “unprecedented” and raised concern that as a result of the fees perfectly valid claims have been discouraged.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has called for the fees system to be reviewed as a matter of urgency.
Conflict management
The CIPD research also found that increasingly employers are using conflict management and mediation training to empower both line and HR managers to handle difficult conversations and manage conflict. If managed correctly and at the appropriate time this approach can significantly reduce the number of disciplinary and grievances and therefore ultimately the potential risk and cost of a tribunal.
People Business can provide expert support and guidance on both mediation and conflict management training across all levels of the business. Please see below comments and brief biographies of two of our established Mediation Consultants.
Deborah Brockwell
‘My observation would be that many line managers need support in conflict resolution. They shy away from dealing with issues or seeing that dealing with conflict can have a real positive impact. Organisations that are working with their line managers to deal positively with difficult conversations and investing in mediation not only find it cost effective but see the feedback in their engagement scores’.
Deborah is an executive coach focusing on both performance and career coaching to maximise individual’s abilities, works with organisation’s to develop their management and leadership capability, including designing and running bespoke programmes and working with teams as a team coach. Coaching qualifications include NLP Certified Coach, Trainer of NLP, CEPEC Work Counselling Skills, Kiddy & Co Career Development and Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is also a member of a number of professional bodies including the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (MCIPD), and The Institute of Directors (IOD).
Dealing with difficult conversations can be tailored to a one or two day programme.
Each mediation case is obviously different but can often be resolved in a day’s mediation meetings, with preparation costs around £1800.
David Weaver
‘Conflict is an inevitable feature of organisational life. The important thing for organisations is not just that they are able to manage conflict effectively when it surfaces, more importantly, that they are able to build a culture where managers, HR and staff themselves are more comfortable / accepting of the fact that conflicts will occur. Further, what will distinguish the successful organisation and manager – especially in this time of austerity – will be those with the skill and confidence to confront conflict and use it as a catalyst for organisational improvement and business success. I agree with the CIPD that effective conflict management and mediation training is key given the changes taking place’.
David has almost 20 years’ experience as an independent consultant in the areas of conflict management / mediation, leadership / organisational development and executive recruitment.
David has a particular specialism and interest in the area of conflict management and is an experienced and successful workplace and community mediator.
Typically David provides mediation services over the duration of two days which includes the pre and post mediation stages, based on a day rate of £800.
