Review of Employment Legislation 2011/12
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Transcript of Review of Employment Legislation 2011/12
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Review of Employment Legislation 2011/12
Presentation by Sarah Veale, Head, Equality and Employment Rights Department, TUC
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Review Of Employment Legislation
• Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill• Red Tape Challenge• Employment Tribunals – fees and procedures• Unfair dismissal and protected conversations• Collective redundancies and TUPE• Parental rights and flexible working • Other – Lofstedt, trade union law, time off
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Review of Dispute resolution
• Early ACAS conciliation – Pre claim conciliation• How this will fit into other reforms
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Red Tape Challenge• Regulation and the economy – case for de-regulation not proved• The business case?• Employers’ Charter
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Modernising Employment Tribunals
• Underhill review of procedures – wider strike out powers
• Meanwhile caps for deposit orders have gone up to £1,000 and for costs to £20,000
• Witnesses – statements and expenses• Judges to sit alone for unfair dismissal
cases
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Fees for Employment Tribunals
• Fee for lodging the claim and fee for the hearing;• Additional fee for higher value claims (over £30,000 has
been dropped• Remission system – consultation ongoing• Employer to pay the applicant’s fee if the applicant wins• Handling multiples
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Unfair dismissal• Extension of the qualifying period – April 2012• Beecroft proposals for compensated no fault
compensated dismissal to replace unfair dismissal protection apparently dropped but ...
• “Settlement agreements” included in Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and
• decrease in maximum award; will depress the median award and hit middle income workers particularly hard
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Other areas: TU law• The dog that has barked but not
bitten (yet!)• Balloting – “Yes” vote thresholds –
40 or 50%• Bans on strikes in essential services• Allow use of agency workers• Tightening definition of a trade
dispute
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Settlement Agreements• Emerged from business lobby following
removal of the default retirement age• Similar to “no prejudice” agreements
but pre-dispute• Fraught with practical and legal
difficulties• License to bully and harass• Would have to exclude discrimination
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Settlement Agreements
• Statutory grievance and disciplinary procedures Mark II?
• Satellite litigation• The irony of a de-regulatory
government proposing to regulate conversations in the workplace!
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Other issues• Union facility time – no change to the law but huge political pressure in
the public sector• Whistleblowing – remove a loophole that allowed personal contracts to be
included• Consolidation of some H&S and NMW regulations• Lofstedt review of health and safety• TUPE revision – service provision and Cas• Collective redundancies – time limits and nature of consultees
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Done and Dusted?
• Equality Act – PS duty weakened; equal pay provisions not commenced; dual discrimination scrapped;
• Other likely casualties – “reforms” to the EH
• Agency workers
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Agency Workers•TUC/CBI agreement underpinning EU Directive;
covered GB only•12 week qualifying period
•“Swedish” derogation – workers employed directly by the agency exempted
•No evidence of collapse in use of agency workers; collective agreements
•Legal challenges? TUC complaint to EC
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The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill
• Heading for the House of Lords – could still be amended to include new areas of employment law reform
• Employment regulation remains highly politicised with right wing Tory “Trade Union Reform Campaign” and Tax Payers’ Alliance
• TUC campaign continues, focussing on ET fees and CR reforms