People – Employment and Pensions Newsletter
29 May 2012
Welcome to the Spring/Summer edition of
People
2012 is set to be a significant year as the Government's plans to
introduce "radical reform" to employment law start taking
shape.
The Queen’s Speech was delivered earlier this month, setting out
the Government's proposals for its legislative programme. The
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will include measures on
workplace dispute resolution including encouraging early
conciliation of employment disputes by requiring claimants to lodge
their claim with ACAS, re-naming compromise agreements as
“settlement agreements” and improving the Employment Tribunal
system by increasing flexibility and encouraging employer
compliance. The Bill also includes proposals to deal with executive
pay, including handing more power to shareholders. The Children and
Families Bill will also give both parents access to flexible
parental leave so that mothers and fathers can share caring
responsibilities.
The Government has also published consultation documents which
propose the repeal of certain provisions of the Equality Act 2010:
third party harassment (i.e. where an employer can be held liable
for the harassment of an employee by a third party, such as a
client or customer); the power of employment tribunals to make
‘wider recommendations’ to an employer in discrimination cases and
the long-established questionnaire procedure.
This edition of People explores a number of topical issues
for employers and HR practitioners, including the recent increase
in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal; preparing for the
forthcoming Olympics; injury to feelings awards; the application of
TUPE to franchisors and the pensions issues arising from Seldon
v Clarkson Wright and Jakes.
We hope you enjoy this Spring/Summer edition of People. As
always, your feedback is appreciated, so please feel free to email
Louise Fernandes-Owen with any
comments.
Unfair dismissal qualifying
period
With effect from 6 April 2012 the minimum qualifying
period of continuous employment for the purposes of claiming unfair
dismissal has been doubled to two years. This is a key
policy decision in the currently highly politicised arena of
employment rights. Click here to read more
>
On your marks, get set, go! Get ready for the
Olympics
There may be fewer than 70 days left to the 2012 Olympic
Games, which hops, skips and jumps off on 27 July, but there is
still plenty of time to implement a plan to prepare your business
and minimise the impact of challenges that may arise prior to and
during the Games. We address the main issues that are likely
to arise. Click here to read more
>
The price of injured feelings
Discrimination claims can be extremely costly for
employers, involving potentially unlimited damages. A key element
of nearly all discrimination awards is a sum representing 'injury
to feelings'. Estimating damages for injury to feelings can
be the 'great unknown' when calculating the potential value of a
claim. The relevant legislation is silent on this point and,
until 2002, there was little guidance available. Click here to read more
>
Franchising TUPE obligations?
The recent case of Meter U Limited v Hardy,
Ackroyd and others, on the application of TUPE to franchisors
has ruled that if an organisation's business model operates by use
of corporate franchisees, rather than employees, TUPE will not
protect unwanted transferring employees from dismissal. Click here to read more
>
Seldon - the pensions issues
The Supreme Court has recently handed down a
decision in Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes which
provides useful guidance on the test for when direct discrimination
on grounds of age is lawful. This "objective justification"
defence must be based on considerations of wider public policy,
although the employer's aim must also be legitimate given its own
particular circumstances. The means of achieving the aim must
also be proportionate for the defence to succeed. Click here to read more
>
Making employee ownership
mainstream
The Government wants to drive employee ownership
into the mainstream British economy. Field Fisher Waterhouse
partner Graeme Nuttall was appointed the Government's independent
adviser on employee ownership on 8 February 2012. "I’ve asked
Graeme Nuttall to look at these issues in his review of employee
ownership, which will report back in July", said Nick Clegg Deputy
Prime Minister. Click here to read more
>
Employment seminars and workshops – register
here
The Government plans to introduce “the most radical reform to the
employment law system for decades”.
The coming year may therefore present a range of challenges. Not
only will employers need to cope with existing employment law
issues in the workplace, they may also be faced with a variety of
new proposals which could change their day-to-day work.
We have designed our employment law training programme
2012/2013 to provide support during this period
of reform. Combining common employment law issues with the impact
of new developments, our programme will be useful for all HR
professionals, senior managers and in-house lawyers.
If you would like to reserve your place on any of the workshops and
seminars in our programme, please email seminars@ffw.com,
specifying which session you would like to attend. If you would
like to be added to our mailing list, please contact louise.fernandes-owen@ffw.com.