Employment Law Update (December 2008)
Queen's Speech sets out government priorities for 2009
The Queen's Speech delivered to Parliament on 3rd
December set out what laws the government intends to make during
2009.
The content of the Queen's Speech is prepared by the government
and lists the government's priorities for the coming year.
However, not all the proposals will necessarily come into force
during 2009.
In employment law, there were no surprises, as the proposal had
already been set out in the Government's Draft Legislative
Programme last summer.
The proposals include:
- A new law on Equality
-
This is a long-standing commitment by the government to bring
together the various laws on unlawful discrimination into a single
"equality" law.
In particular, the new law aims to focus on removing pay
inequality between men and women. It will also introduce the
concept of "positive discrimination" – where a job applicant from a
minority group may be favoured over an equally well-qualified
applicant from the majority group.
- New laws on apprenticeships
-
The aim is to introduce a "right to an apprenticeship" for each
suitably-qualified young person, and to put apprenticeships on a
"proper legal footing". This is intended to come into force
in 2013.
It is not yet clear what obligations will be placed on
individual employers as a result of these changes, nor what is
meant by a "proper legal footing".
The legal status of apprenticeships is long overdue
reform. The current rules mean that some employees who are
called "apprentices" may have few legal rights, either to training
or job security, while others can be virtually impossible for
employers to dismiss.
- Giving staff the right to request time off for
training
-
The intention is that employees will have the right to ask their
employer for unpaid time off to undertake "relevant"
training. The "right to request" will work in practice like
the current "right to request flexible working", and employers will
be able to refuse such requests on particular grounds.
However, employers will have to treat all requests seriously,
including holding a meeting with the employee to discuss the
request and giving the employee the right of appeal if they refuse
the initial request.
The government has already completed a consultation process on
this proposal, and it suggested during the consultation that some
small businesses may be exempt, depending on the size of their
workforce. The final proposals following the consultation are
still awaited.
- Flexible working rights may be extended
-
An item that remains "on the agenda" is the proposed extension
of the right to request flexible working arrangements to include
parents of children at school. However, the government has
not yet published either its response to the consultation on the
proposals, nor final details of how the right will work in
practice. The proposals were originally expected to come into
effect in April 2009.
Currently, parents of children aged 5 and under; parents of
disabled children and carers of people aged 18 and over have the
legal right to make a request to their employer for "flexible
working" arrangements. Where such a request is made, the
employer must follow a procedure to consider the request, including
meeting with the employee and giving the employee a right of appeal
if the request is refused.
The proposed change will allow many more employees to make
requests for flexible working arrangements, although the employer
will still have the right to refuse on various specific
grounds.
Let us be your guide
Although the measures highlighted are already "work in
progress", other proposals which were not mentioned remain very
much on the agenda. These include increasing maternity and
paternity leave entitlements; giving new rights to agency workers
and changes to working time rules and the 48 hour "opt-out".
Many of these changes are already committed because of European
agreements, although the exact timing of the changes has not been
decided.
What is clear is that, regardless of the economic climate,
employment law will continue to change. Mentor will always
keep you informed, make sure your business's procedures are
up-to-date and our Telephone Advice Service is always there when
you need us.