1st April 2013
Legal aid removed for the majority of employment claims – Legal aid will be withdrawn for most employment claims with the exception of some areas, including advice and assistance in relation to claims under the Equality Act 2010 and representation in the Employment Appeal Tribunal for claims under the Equality Act 2010.
6th April 2013
Real time information introduced
- Employers are required to report PAYE deductions to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) prior to, or at the time of, paying employees rather than at the end of the year, under the new real time information scheme
Statutory sick pay increases
increase from £85.85 to £86.70 per week.
Collective redundancy consultation period reduces from 90 to 45 days where an employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 100 or more employees
Changes to income tax thresholds and rates come into force
-The income tax personal allowance increases from £8,105 to £9,440. The basic rate limit decreases from £34,370 to £32,010. The additional rate of income tax is reduced from 50% to 45%.
Social Security (Contributions) amended to: the lower earnings limit for primary Class 1 national insurance contributions to £109 and the upper earnings limit to £797.
7th April 2013
Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase
£135.45 to £136.78 per week
Summer 2013
Fees for tribunal claims introduced
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Claimants who issue a claim against their employer in the employment tribunal are required to pay a fee. There are two levels of claim, depending on the complexity of the case. The claimant pays an initial fee to issue a claim and a further fee if the claim proceeds to a hearing. submitted to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Portable DBS checks introduced
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Once a Disclosure and Barring Service (previously Criminal Records Bureau) check has been conducted, the results will be available online to enable employers to confirm that no new information has been added since the check was originally made. This means that an employee will not have to obtain a new check each time he or she starts a new job.
Compensatory award limit for unfair dismissal amended -
the amount may be no less than the median annual earnings and no more than three times the median annual earnings, or no less than 52 times the claimant’s weekly pay.
Compromise agreements to be renamed settlement agreements
Plan for pre-termination negotiations to be inadmissible in unfair dismissal claims - Conversations between an employer and an employee or an offer made prior to the termination of employment, with a view to terminating employment on agreed terms, may not be taken into account by an employment tribunal when determining an unfair dismissal claim.
Autumn 2013
Employee-owner contract introduced
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The "employee-owner" contract, a new type of employment contract, is introduced. Employee-owners will be given between £2,000 and £50,000 of shares in the business, which will be exempt from capital gains tax, in exchange for foregoing certain employment rights. Employee-owners would not have the "ordinary" unfair dismissal protection after two years’ continuous service. Employee owners would be unable to make statutory requests to work flexibly or in relation to study or training, and would not be protected against dismissal for making either of these statutory requests, except in relation to a flexible working request on return from parental leave. Employee-owners would not be eligible for statutory redundancy pay, and would also have to give 16 weeks’ notice to return early from maternity or adoption leave, as compared with eight weeks for employees.
Tags: Employment law, government changes
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