Employment law - what's around the corner?
As we approach the end of the financial year, employers must brace themselves for a number of changes to employment law effective from 6 April 2010. April 2009 saw the repeal of the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures and automatically unfair dismissals, the introduction of the new ACAS Code and a rise in statutory holiday entitlement. The consequences of the developments for 2010 may not appear to be as significant, but there is no doubt their introduction will still have a major impact on an employer’s business.
New rights to request time off to train
From 6 April 2010 employees working for employers with more than 250 employees will have a new right to request time off to train. This is a considerable development in the rights of employees. An employee must have been employed for 26 weeks and the training must be for the purpose of improving both their effectiveness at work, and the performance of their employer’s business. The right will be extended to all employees, regardless of the size of their employer from 6 April 2011.
There is no right for an employee to be paid for the time off once it has been granted and the amount of time allowed off is at the discretion of the employer. The employer may elect to grant all, part, or none of the time off requested by the employee.
An employer may refuse a request completely if they think that one of the specified business reasons applies. These include the effect on ability to meet customer demand, the costs burden, inability to re-allocate work or a belief that the training would not improve the employee’s effectiveness or business performance. In these circumstances, it will not be difficult for an employer to justify refusing a request. However, if an employer does not comply with the correct procedure or fails to consider the request, this could lead to claims to an Employment Tribunal.
Additional paternity leave and pay
From 6 April 2010 parents of babies born (or adoptive parents) on or after 3 April 2011 are eligible for additional paternity leave and pay. An eligible employee (who would usually be the father) will have the right to take up to six months’ paternity leave if the mother returns to work early. Part of the leave will be paid if taken during the mother’s paid leave period.
While in reality a parent will not be eligible for additional paternity leave and pay until on or after 3 April 2011, employers should consider updating their policies and procedures as soon as possible and by the end of 2010 at the latest. That said, if the Conservatives were to come to power according to their policy statements and pledges; they will be looking to introduce a new system of flexible parental leave, giving parents 52 weeks leave that can be shared between them. Please look out for further articles on this subject on our website.
Fit notes to replace sick notes
From 6 April 2010 a GP will only be able to tick either (1) “Not fit to work” or (2) “You may be fit for work taking account of the following advice” and there will be no option for “fit to work”. The theory is to encourage greater communication between employers and their employees' GPs. However this stream of communication will always be restricted by the fact that a GP's ultimate responsibility is to their patient. For further information on this development please see the article entitled Fit Notes to Replace Sick Notes which can be found under the Employment Law News Tab under Employment Law on the website.
If you require advice on any of these developments including a tailor-made and updated paternity policy please contact either James Twine on 01752 292351 or Eoin Fowell on 01752 292350.
