Employment Law changes

April is usually the time of year when many employment law reforms and amendments come into force. However, this year, only two significant changes will take effect.

Firstly, from 6 April 2014, the right for employees to submit written questions regarding potential discriminatory treatment to their employer will be abolished. These are more commonly known as discrimination questionnaires and have often placed a significant burden on employers required to respond to them.

The abolition of questionnaires formed part of the governments pledge to cut red tape in tribunal proceedings. Originally introduced to help promote early settlement and the number of claims proceedings to final hearings, discrimination questionnaires have been criticised for doing exactly the opposite.

The government intends that discrimination questionnaires will be replaced by a more informal process led by ACAS.

Also taking effect on 6 April is a change to statutory sick pay (SSP) records. Employers will no longer be required to keep a specific record of employees on statutory sick pay. Previously employers were obliged to keep records relating to the date of any absence and the amount of SSP paid for a period of 3 years. Employers are now encouraged to adopt their own system of recording which is more akin to their business needs.

There are still a number of proposed developments in employment law which are likely to come into force over the next 18 months:

• The Government intends (most likely in October 2015) to introduce caste as an aspect of race discrimination. This change has come about as a result of recent case law, in which a domestic servant was discriminated against on the basis of her caste;

• At the end of 2014, it is expected that employment tribunals will be given the power to order an employer to carry out a financial audit into pay, when a finding of gender discrimination is made in relation to pay;

• The Government intends, in autumn 2015, to introduce a scheme, in which working families are able claim 20% of any childcare costs for children under 12. Claims under the scheme will be capped at £1,200 for any child per year. The scheme will initially be introduced for children under 5, in 2015 but will eventually be rolled gradually for all children under 12.

• By the end of 2014, it is expected that all employees with 26 weeks service will be given the right to request flexible working patterns. Currently, the right to request flexible working is limited to parents or carers. Employers will only have to consider flexible request in a reasonable manner and will no longer have to follow the statutory procedure.

• In early 2015, it is likely that the Government will introduce a new system of parental leave which will allow parents (or adopters) to share a maximum of 52 weeks leave and 39 weeks statutory pay, following the birth of the child. Employees will be required to give their employers 8 weeks notice of any leave they wish to take, either in total or in a block. In this regard employees will be limited to taking leave in no more than 3 blocks.