| Employment Update for
Small Businesses | |
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Dear Peter,
May has seen a
number of important announcements from the Government related
to flexible working and agency workers, but very little
substance. This is because the detail of the
proposals is subject to consultation with various parties
followed by the parliamentary process, and that can take
several months.
Do contact me if you would like any more
information about any of these news items. If you need
any help or advice why not take advantage of my free initial
consultation.
Please forward this email to any of your contacts
who might find it of benefit.
Regards
Peter Etherington  Tel: 01664 430373
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| How flexible can you be? |
| Flexible
working to be
extended |
|
Parents
of children under 6 years old (18 years if the child is
disabled) and employees with caring responsibilities are
currently entitled to make a request to their employers to
work flexibly. This could be to work part-time, to
vary working pattern, to work from home, etc. The
Government has now announced that this right is to be extended
to all parents of children aged 16 or under.
A consultation process will now commence on implementing
this change. The commencement date, therefore, will be
some months hence and will only be known once the consultation
has concluded and after the amendment has passed through the
various parliamentary stages. Watch this space for
further developments and the proposed commencement date once
they are known.
Small employers may find the prospect of extending
flexible working arrangements quite daunting, but don't forget
that the right is only to request flexible
working. Employers are able to reject requests if they
have good reasons for doing so, but they must have followed
the set procedure and be able to justify their
decision.
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| Do
you use temps? Can you afford to pay them
more? |
| Agency
workers to be paid the same as regular
staff |
| The
Government has announced that agency workers will become
entitled to "equal treatment" after 12 weeks working with the
same employer. This is the outcome of an agreement
reached between the Government, the CBI and the TUC which
states:
"Equal treatment will be defined to mean at least the
basic working and employment conditions that would apply to
the workers concerned if they had been recruited directly by
that undertaking to occupy the same job. It will not cover
occupational social security schemes."
There will be
a period of consultation to hammer out the details. At
the moment there is no definition given of "agency workers"
but it is assumed that it means the typical "temp" arrangement
where workers are supplied on a temporary basis to an
organisation via an agency, the organisation pays the agency
for the labour and the agency pays the worker for their work.
Clearly there is a lot more detail
required. Again, watch this space for further
information.
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| Disciplinary
rules made simple? |
| New Acas Code of
Practice |
| Acas
has published for consultation a draft amended Code of
Practice on discipline and grievance. This is intended
to be rolled out in April 2009 when the Statutory Dispute
Resolution procedures are finally repealed. Regular
subscribers to this newsletter may remember that I reported on
the statutory procedures and their imminent repeal in January's
edition.
The draft Code of Practice is much more light-touch
than the previous version and less prescriptive than the
statutory procedures. All of which is good news for
employers and employees alike, as there is less scope for
confusion. Also, it is clear that the code is restricted
to cases of discipline and grievance, and is not applicable to
redundancy dismissals (unlike the statutory procedures).
Unlike the statutory procedures, the Code of Practice
is not legally enforceable but employment tribunals are
obliged to take it into account when considering relevant
claims. Failure to follow the code may also result in
any awards made being increased by up to 25%.
If you wish to see the draft or to respond to the
consultation it is available here.
Don't forget, however, that the statutory procedures
remain in place for now and it is essential that you follow
them if intending to dismiss
staff.
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Peter Etherington Employment
Law Services
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