Several important employment law changes will be implemented on 1 October 2014. These changes are as follows:
National minimum wage. The new national minimum wage rates for all workers will be as follows:
Standard Adult rate: £6.50
Development rate: £5.13
Young workers rate: £3.79
Apprenticeship rate: £2.73
Power to order equal pay audits. Tribunals will have the power to order employers found to have been in breach of equal pay law to carry out equal pay audits in certain circumstances.
Reserve Forces reform. The statutory qualifying period for unfair dismissal where the dismissal is connected with the employee’s membership of the Reserve Forces will be removed. The Secretary of State also now has the power to make payments to small and medium-sized employers of reservists who are called out for service.
Time off to accompany partner to antenatal appointments. Employees and agency workers will have a right to take unpaid time off to accompany a pregnant woman with whom they have a “qualifying relationship” to up to two antenatal appointments, up to a maximum of six and a half hours for each appointment.
ACAS Guidance on managing bereavement in the workplace. Acas has published new guidance for employers on managing bereavement in the workplace. This guidance was anticipated after the government said it was not “feasible” to introduce some form of statutory bereavement leave over and above the existing limited statutory rights. The Acas guide details the existing statutory entitlements for bereaved employees and offers best practice guidance which employers should follow when an employee suffers a bereavement.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you require further information about any of these developments.
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