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Dear Subscriber,
The issue of retirement and retirement ages has been in the press recently, and this month I remind you of the current rules. New safeguarding procedures have come in for those whose employees and voluteers work with children and vulnerable adults, and the annual Employment Tribunal statistics have been released - they make interesting reading!
Please contact me if you would like to find out a bit more about any of these issues. 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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| Can you force employees to retire? |
Government promises early review of default retirement age
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When the age discrimination legislation came into force in 2006 it permitted employers to continue to force employees to retire as long as the retirement age applied was 65 or older. This default retirement age has been subject to a long running legal claim brought by Heyday (on behalf of Age Concern) and the House of Lords in one of its final rulings, has determined that the government was entitled to set a default retirement age of 65.
However, as the economic climate has changed considerably since 2006, and many would-be pensioners have seen their pension entitlements plummet, the government has agreed to bring forward a planned review of the retirement age to next year. The House of Lords in their ruling made it clear that they expect to see an increase in the default retirement age as a result of the review.
Employers may continue to apply a retirement age of 65 or more, but you must ensure the proper retirement procedure is followed. You must initiate the procedure by formally notifying an employee of their impending retirement at least 6 months in advance. Failure to follow the procedure can lead to the resultant retirement being found to be automatically unfair.
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| Do your employees work with children or vulnerable adults? |
New Vetting and Barring Scheme
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From 12 October 2009, it has become a legal offence for an employer who carries out a "regulated activity" (known as a Regulated Activity Provider (RAP)) to knowingly employ or use as a volunteer anyone who has been barred under a new scheme run by the newly formed Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). "Regulated activites" include anything which brings individuals into frequent or intensive contact with children. It includes the obvious, such as childcare, schools, residential homes, etc. but it is broader than you might expect.
RAPs must now carry out enhanced CRB checks for anyone working in such activities. There is no requirement to carry out additional checks on existing staff or volunteers, as these should be updated regularly and will be picked up on a phased basis.
RAPs also now have a duty to refer information to the ISA where they believe an individual may have harmed or poses a risk to children or vulnerable adults, and where they have withdrawn permission for that individual to work in the regulated activity (normally through dismissal).
It should be noted that these duties also apply to recruitment agencies.
Further details of the new scheme can be found on the ISA website.
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| Worried about tribunal claims? |
Number of claims increases yet again
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The Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal statistics for 2008/09 have now been released. The main headlines are a year on year increase of 15% in the number of single claims brought and a maximum award (in a race discrimination case) of £1,353,432!
Employers are reminded that good planning and early intervention in employment issues can go a long way towards avoiding claims.
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