Employment Matters Bite Size January 2008

Your monthly guide to all the recent changes in the world of employment law

Legislation

Employment Bill To Abolish Statutory Disciplinary And Grievance Procedures
The government is to draw up new employment dispute rules as part of the new Employment Bill, due to take effect in April 2009. Previous legislation setting a strict three part process that both employers and employees had to follow has been found to be overly complex and unworkable and will be scrapped. The abolition will mean a return to the old law and the requirement for a fair procedure.
A raft of new measures will be introduced which encourage early resolution of disputes. These include extending Acas's powers of conciliation and the removal of the fixed conciliation period. Employers will be advised to follow new guidelines being drawn up by Acas. If an employer 'unreasonably’ fails to follow the guidelines any compensation awarded could be increased by 25%.
Follow this link to read more http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2027.asp

Director's Duties Brought Forward
It has recently been announced that the remaining directors' duties which are set out in the Companies Act 2006 will come into force on 1 October 2008. An earlier announcement had suggested that they would not be effective until 2009.
Follow this link to read more http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/companiesAct/implementations/qanda.shtml

The Pensions Bill 2007 Introduced To Parliament
The Pensions Bill received its first reading in parliament. The Bill, which will introduce legislation for employers providing pension schemes, proposes automatic enrolment for staff into a qualifying workplace pension scheme from 2012 and the introduction of personal accounts for employers who do not currently run a pension scheme. Under the proposals, all employees aged over 22 years, who earn more than £5,000 a year will be automatically enrolled into either a qualifying workplace pensions scheme or personal account. Employers who fail to make payments into new personal pension accounts could be fined £50,000.
Follow this link to read more http://www.dwp.gov.uk/pensionsreform/