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Article: Employment and the Law - Recent Developments by Louise Fernandes-Owen

Louise Fernandes-Owen of Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP examines the latest key employment law developments. 

Equality Act 2010 

This month has seen the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 which consolidates 40 years of discrimination legislation, harmonising some of the anomalies in the process. 

Mostly it is business as usual, although employers should undertake an audit of their policies and consider training to ensure employees at all levels understand the new legislation. 

However, not all of the Act came into force on 1 October. The new public equality duty will probably be brought in from April 2011 and the following provisions are still under review:
• the socio-economic duty on certain public authorities 
• combined discrimination 
• positive action in recruitment and promotion (although the new general positive action provision is now in force) 

Statutory Code of Practice on Employment - published 

The EHRC has now published the final version of the Statutory Code of Practice on Employment. Together with the Statutory Code of Practice on Equal Pay, the Code of Practice on Employment is intended to explain the employment-related provisions of the Equality Act 2010 and help ensure that the law is applied consistently by lower courts and tribunals. The Codes have been laid before Parliament and will technically remain in draft form until the Government makes an Order bringing them into force.

European Parliament votes to extend EU maternity leave

The European Parliament has agreed proposals to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive, which include an increase in the minimum period of maternity leave across the EU from 14 weeks to 20 weeks on full pay. 

In the UK, the entitlement is to 52 weeks' maternity leave, with pay capped at statutory maternity pay for 39 weeks. The proposals must be approved by the EU Council of Ministers before they can be adopted. As the maternity pay proposals are particularly controversial, they may be subject to further amendment.

Agency Workers Regulations

The Government has now announced that it will not be amending the Agency Workers Regulations. 

BIS officials will be developing guidance with key stakeholders, representing the interests of agencies, hirers and agency workers, which should be published in draft in early 2011, allowing the necessary time to adjust to the changes in advance of the regulations coming into force in October 2011.

Right to request flexible working extended

The Government has announced that the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents with children under 18 from April 2011. A consultation will also be launched later this year looking at how to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, and the design of a new system of flexible parental leave.

The Employment Relations Minister, Edward Davey, said:
"We want to help parents and create a fairer, family friendly society. We will be launching a consultation later this year to make sure the law better supports real families juggling work and family life, and the businesses that employ them.  This immediate change will give parents of all children regardless of age the same right to request flexible working. It will also make it simpler for employers and employees to identify whether they are eligible to make a request.  The plans we’ll unveil later this year are much more ambitious but these interim measures will help us learn valuable lessons and are an important first step."

Employers who breach minimum wage laws to be named

The Government has announced that it will publicise the names of employers found to have breached the national minimum wage rules from 1 January 2011. The new sanction was announced as the new rates for the National Minimum Wage came into effect on 1 October. As a reminder, the new rates are:
• £5.93 per hour for workers aged 21 and over;
• £4.92 per hour for 18-20 year olds; and
• £3.64 per hour for 16-17 year olds.

For the first time, there is also an apprentice minimum wage of £2.50 per hour. The new rate applies to those apprentices who are under 19 or those that are aged 19 and over but in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Third-party violence and harassment – EU guidelines

EU-level employers' and trade unions' organisations have signed guidelines to help tackle third-party violence and harassment at work.

The guidelines aim to cut prevent, reduce and mitigate violence by setting out practical measures such as:
• increasing awareness and understanding of the issue among employers, workers and public authorities (such as health and safety agencies, the police); 
• properly assessing the risks posed by third party violence in different workplaces and job functions; 
• training managers and workers in how to prevent or, if necessary, manage the problem; and 
• setting up policies and systems for monitoring, reporting and investigating incidents and providing support to victims. 

Louise Fernandes-Owen is the Professional Support Lawyer in the Employment and Pensions Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP and can be contacted at louise.fernandes-owen@ffw.com 

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