With legislation changing constantly, it is no surprise that many business owners often feel that the goalposts are always on the move. The following article is a brief overview of some prominent changes that you should be aware of.
Increase in employment tribunal statutory payments
The maximum tribunal compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissals will increase to £66,200 (from £63,000) and the maximum week’s pay for the basic award to £350 (from £330) for dismissals where the effective date of termination is 1st February 2009 or later. The maximums week’s pay for redundancy pay will also increase to £350 for dismissals where the relevant date is on or after 1st February 2009 and statutory guarantee pay will increase to a maximum of £21.50 a day (from £20.40). This follows on from the unified Tribunals Service annual report for 2007-08 which shows a huge 32% increase in the number of cases received by employment tribunals – up from 143, 474 in 2006-07 to 189,348 in 2007-08.
Employment Act 2008
Continuing in the same vein, The Employment Act 2008 received Royal Assent on 13th November 2008 and the majority of its provisions come into force on 6th April 2009. Statutory dispute resolution procedures were introduced in October 2004 to encourage employers and employees to resolve disputes in the workplace and thereby reduce the number of employment tribunal complaints. However, as you can see from the figures quoted in the previous paragraph, this has not happened and, according to the Government commissioned Gibbons Review, the procedures have been “a resounding failure”.
The current three step statutory procedures, covering disciplinary action, dismissals and grievances, will be replaced by a 45-point ACAS Code of Practice, which has prompted speculation that it could do more harm than good, as the Code of Practice is backed up by a 167-point, 74-page Guide!
Health & Safety Offences Act 2008
This is a new piece of legislation that came into force in January 2009, and whilst it doesn’t impose any additional duties upon individuals or businesses, it will increase the scope for penalties and sentencing powers where breaches of Health & Safety legislation have been found. The Act will raise the maximum financial penalties that can be imposed, as well as widen the range of offences for which an individual can be imprisoned. The summary can be set out as follows:
- The lower court maximum fine will increase from £5,000 to £20,000 for most offences. Higher courts remain with the power to impose unlimited fines.
- Both lower and higher courts will have the power of imprisonment. A Magistrates Court can sentence up to 12 months, a Crown Court 2 years
- Some offences, currently only triable in lower courts, will be triable in either higher or lower courts.
Lord McKenzie, DWP minister enforced the intention of the new legislation by stating “It is generally accepted that the level of fines for some Health & Safety offences is too low…by extending the £20,000 maximum fine to lower courts and making imprisonment an option, more cases will be resolved in the lower courts and justice will be faster, less costly and more efficient.”
So, definitely worth bearing in mind when you plan your 2009 health & safety strategy!
In order to comply with legislation, PSU contract out their employment law and health & safety compliance requirements to Citation plc for a fixed cost. If you require any further advice regarding the Health and Safety or Employment Law services that are provided by Citation plc, please do not hesitate to contact Nigel Lea on 01565 650092 or visit www.citation.co.uk
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