Template documents
Tailored to the needs of the UK recruitment industry, these template contracts and policies can be used when engaging clients, jobseekers and your own staff.
See what legal activity happened in previous months.
Legal Bulletin article on workers and employees taking paid time off to get Covid-19 Vaccinations. Released on 20 January 2022.
Legal Hot Topics publication. Released on 14 February 2022.
From 21 February:
From 24 February:
Employment Bill:
The proposed Employment Bill is looking to provide a variety of changes that will “build on existing employment law with measures that protect those in low-paid work and the gig economy”. There is no specific guarantee as to what changes will be made, and when they will happen, but they may include the following:
The second reading for this Bill is due to take place in the House of Commons on 18 March 2022 and we will update members when we know more.
Other changes include:
The Home Office announced that employers can use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to conduct digital identity checks from 6 April. This is a new service, and the cost of these services would be met by employers. The costs of the technology vary from as little as £1.45 per check, to between £50 - £70 per check, depending upon the levels of service supplied by the provider. However, the issue is that for EU nationals, the Employer’s Checking Service (ECS) is free and the ECS is not available to British and Irish nationals. REC’s Campaigns team will be vocal about the concern over costs and continue to push HO for an in-house free system like the ECS.
The technology will allow candidates to upload images of their personal documents, to an Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) provider instead of presenting physical documents to a prospective employer, which reduces time and mitigates risk. In addition, the IDVT will remove human error in terms of identifying fraudulent documents or inaccuracies. For more details please see here. The Government has released a draft of the new Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks.
The deadline for gender pay gap reporting by employers in private and voluntary sectors is 4 April 2022.
2022 Statutory Rate increase from April 2022.
|
Rate from April 2022 | Previous Rate (April 2021 to March 2022) | Increase |
---|---|---|---|
National Living Wage | £9.50 | £8.91 | 6.6% |
21-22 Year Old Rate | £9.18 | £8.36 | 9.8% |
18-20 Year Old Rate | £6.83 | £6.56 | 4.1% |
16-17 Year Old Rate | £4.81 | £4.62 | 4.1% |
Apprentice Rate | £4.81 | £4.30 | 11.9% |
Accommodation Offset | £8.70 | £8.36 | 4.1% |
Type of payment or recovery | 2022 to 2023 rate |
---|---|
SMP - weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings |
SMP - weekly rate for remaining weeks | £156.66 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) - weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) - weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of employee's average weekly earnings |
SAP - weekly rate for remaining weeks | £156.66 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) - weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) - weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
Unrounded daily rates | Number of qualifying days in week | 1 day to pay | 2 days to pay | 3 days to pay | 4 days to pay | 5 days to pay | 6 days to pay | 7 days to pay |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£14.1929 | 7 | £14.20 | £28.39 | £42.58 | £56.78 | £70.97 | £85.16 | £99.35 |
£16.0583 | 6 | £16.56 | £33.12 | £49.68 | £66.24 | £82.80 | £99.35 | |
£19.87 | 5 | £19.87 | £39.74 | £59.61 | £79.48 | £99.35 | ||
£24.8375 | 4 | £24.84 | £49.68 | £74.52 | £99.35 | |||
£33.1167 | 3 | £33.12 | £66.24 | £99.35 | ||||
£49.675 | 2 | £49.68 | £99.35 | |||||
£99.35 | 1 | £99.35 |
6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023 National Insurance contributions will increase by 1.25% for workers and employers. This increase will fund health and social care and will be replaced in April 2023 by a separate health and social care levy (at which time, National Insurance contributions will revert to current levels).
From 6 April 2022, under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 in England, Scotland and Wales, all employers (which will include employment businesses) must ensure that suitable free personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided to workers who may be exposed to a risk to their health and safety while at work.
It is the first year anniversary of the introduction of the off-payroll rules into the private sector. Since April 2021, medium and large sized business are responsible for deciding the employment status of workers contractors providing their services through an intermediary.
Recruitment Matters publication expected on 3 June 2022.
Legal Bitesize Video expected on 13 June 2022.
Queen's Jubilee, extra bank holiday on 3 June 2022.
Webinars hosted by Department of for Business, Energy and Industrial Action (BEIS)
Repeal of Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 - The repeal of Regulation 7 means that employment businesses can supply temporary workers to temporarily replace workers engaged on official strike or other industrial action. Please see our July 2022 Legal Bulletin for further insight into this.
New legislation proposed by DWP, allowing multiple healthcare professionals to certify ‘fit notes’ from 1 July 2022. Further information can be found in the SSP Legal guide, under the FAQ "Changes to who can certify fit notes."
Webinars hosted by Department of for Business, Energy and Industrial Action (BEIS)
Webinar hosted by Brabners
The Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was announced by Government on 20 October 2022. The bill ensures that even during strikes, transport services will still run to make sure that there is minimal disruption for people trying to attend work, school and medical appointments. The main purpose of this legislation will provide that relevant employers and unions have the opportunity to agree a minimum service level to continue running during all strikes over a 3-month period.
The Professional Qualifications Act 2022 (Commencement No 1) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/936, brings into force sections 9 and 10 of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022 which set out duties on regulators to provide information to a regulator in another part of the UK and to an overseas regulator. Under the PQA 2022, UK regulators of professions such as medicine, nursing, teaching and architecture can recognise the qualifications of skilled professional from around the world. In force from 28 October 2022.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published the annual statistics for the differences in pay between men and woman in the UK for 2022. The data establishes that the Gender Pay Gap has increased by 0.6%, where it was at 7.7% in April 2021 and 8.3% in April 2022.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill was introduced to revoke certain retained EU law and to make provision relating to the interpretation of retained EU law and to its relationship with other law. The Bill is currently going thorugh the House of Commons committe stage since 8 November. Government has produced an Impact Assessment relating to this Bill.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill has been given support by the Government and puts the duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment and reinstate employer liability for third-party harassment. The legal test to satisfy the criteria for third-party harassment will be less complex than the previous law dictated. The Bill had gone through the House of Commons commitee stage on Friday 23 November.
Government launches Holiday Pay consultation - Following the Harpur Trust v Brazel judgment last year, the government has launched a consultation to address the issues on holiday pay calculation that arose from this case. The REC will be submitting a response on behalf of the industry, but you can submit your own response to the consultation as well. The consultation will end after 9 March 2023.
The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications and Induction Arrangements) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022 - Provides for teachers who hold the qualification known as ‘international qualified teacher status’ (or iQTS) to be qualified teachers in England. From 1 February 2023, 9 more countries will be added to the list of teachers with a teaching qualification of whom can apply to the TRA for QTS.
Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill - This Private Member's Bill aims to give workers (including agency workers and zero-hours workers) the right to request more predictable terms and conditions of their working pattern. The Bill has gone though it's 2nd reading in the House of Commons on 3 February 2023.
Ratification for the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention - The UK ratified the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention, and so it shall come into force from 7 March 2023. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has also confirmed that they plan to introduce an obligation on employers to play an active role preventing harassment in the workplace, whether it be harassment by employees, or even by third parties such as clients and customers. This is of significant importance for employers, as the protection from harassment by third parties was repealed in the Equality Act 2010 on October 2013.
The Department for Work & Pensions has published their proposed increase for statutory rates from April 2023. See our Legal Guide for an updated reflection of the new rates.
The National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage will increase from April 2023. See the information here.
Data Protection and Digital Information (No.2) Bill - The reintroduced Bill will update and provide amendments to the current UK Data Protection laws, in order to provide further clarifcation and supplementation to the legislation that governs this. The Bill has gone thorugh the First Reading in the House of Commons and will have the Second Reading on 17 April 2023.
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill - This Government Bill gives powers to revoke, replace, keep or update certain retained EU law, following the UK exit from the EU. The Bill has gone through the Committee Stage in the House of Lords and the sitting for the Reporting Stage will be on 19 April 2023.
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 came into force partly on 24 May 2023. The Act gives powers to make regulations to create entitlements to Neonatal Care Leave and Pay for eligible employees with responsibility for children receiving neonatal care. The Act will come into force fully at a later date.
The non-compete consultation:
This month the government published its response to the consultation on the reform of non-compete clauses. In the response the government announced they do not intend to pursue any of the previously proposed measures and instead that they will introduce a statutory limit of 3 months on the duration of non-compete restrictions in contracts of employment.
Working Time Regulations
After Government’s announcements on revoking the Sunset clause in the EU Reform Bill and changes to employment law post-Brexit, they published a consultation on areas of retained EU law that they intend to reform. The areas included in the consultation are:
Transfer of undertakings (protection of employment) Regulations
Removing the requirement to consult with appointed representatives when there are less than 50 employees in the business and less than 10 transferees.
The consultation is available here on gov.uk and will be open until July 7th 2023. REC will work with our members to respond to the consultation.
As part of Tax Administration and Maintenance Day back in April, Government has published a consultation on a possible change to allow HMRC to account for taxes already paid by an individual and/or their intermediary when calculating a deemed employer’s tax and NICs liability where an error has been made in applying the off-payroll working rules. This consultation will run until 22 June 2023 and REC is responding to the consultation on behalf of our members as deemed feepayers. The options must address this issue and works effectively to support different parties in the labour supply chain. For more information please see the link here Off-payroll working (IR35) – calculation of PAYE liability in cases of non-compliance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Following the call for evidence on the umbrella company market last year, the Treasury have launched a further consultation on proposals to regulate umbrella companies. The REC has called for this to be a priority for government for several years and we are pleased to see them finally taking action to address this issue. The REC will be submitting a response to the consultation in due course; to feed into this please email patrick.milnes@rec.uk.com or sam.beggs@rec.uk.com to share your views.
The Act provides protection from redundancy during and after pregnancy or after periods of maternity, adoption or shared parental leave. This will come into force on 24 July 2023.
The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 received Royal Assent and is expected to come into force in September 2024. It introduces a new statutory right for workers (including agency workers and zero-hours workers) to request a more predictable working pattern. This will be accompanied by regulations outlining how the legislation will be implemented. Acas will be producing a draft Code of Practice for consultation in the Autumn which will provide guidance on how to handle requests from workers.
For further guidance on the act please see our bitesize video and our recruitment matters article found on the REC website.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Bill received Royal Assent on September 18, 2023. The Bill introduces powers to reduce the age of automatic enrolment and remove the lower earnings limit.
The Act seeks to abolish the lower earnings limit for contributions (which is currently £6,240 per annum) and reduce the age for being automatically enrolled into a pension scheme from 22 years to 18 years old.
The DWP will launch a consultation on the implementation of these new measures.
Updated guidance on fit notes from employers and line managers published on 6th October 2023.
Judgement in the Employment Tribunal case of AB v Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames was published. The case summarises factors to be taken into consideration by an employer in supporting a worker who has undergone gender reassignment on 13 October 2023.
Update to Home Office’s guide to Right to Work Checks for employers carrying out right to work checks on or after 17 October 2023. This update removes the requirement for employers to verify a digital Certificate of Application (CoA) with the Home Office Employer Checking Service (ECS) for outstanding EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) applications made on or after 1 July 2021. The online right to work checking service will also not direct employers to verify a digital CoA with the ECS on 17 October 2023.
Launch of the consultation on the draft statutory code for the procedures for making and considering requests under the Predictable Terms and Conditions Act 2023 on 21 October 2023.
Enactment of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This creates an offence applying to large entities (including not for profits of a failure to prevent (or have in place reasonable policies and procedures designed to prevent) fraud, and/or false accounting, including fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and cheating the public revenue on 26 October 2023.
An update to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 rehabilitation periods table. This is due to the enactment of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSCA) and a change which came into force on 28th October 2023 under PCSCA as a result of it on 28 October 2023.
The Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 31 October 2023.
The Employment Equality (Insurance etc) Bill - The purpose of this Bill is to amend Section 9 of the Equality Act 2010, which would prohibit age discrimination by employers for the provision of insurance or other related financial services. The Bill had it's First Reading in the House of Commons on 22 March 2023 and the Second Reading will be on 24 November 2023.
Consultation on a new proposal to repeal of Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Businesses 2003 (the Conduct Regulations) - On 6th November 2023, the government announced its intention to open a consultation on a new proposal to repeal Regulation 7 of the Conduct Regulations.
Draft regulations for minimum service levels for rail workers, ambulance staff and border security staff to be laid before parliament on 7th November 2023.
Government has published the Draft Code of Practice on ‘reasonable steps’ in relation to Minimum Service Levels under the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 on the 14th November 2023
Government has launched a consultation on fresh proposals to repeal Regulation 7 of the Conduct Regulations. The consutation titled, Hiring agency staff to cover industrial action and was released on the 16th November 2023.
The Home Office launched a Draft Code of Practice for the 'Right to Work' scheme on 20 November 2023. This sets out the sets out the prescribed checks and information that must be retained by employers to obtain a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty and how the Home Office determines the value of the civil penalty in cases where illegal working is identified.
The Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 21 November 2023.
HMRC have published guidance on advisory fuel rates for company car users, when you can use them and how they are calculated on 24th of November 2023
HMRC will be publishing guidance on working with umbrella companies on the 30th of November 2023
Following the outcome of the off-set of liability consultation, HMRC will be publishing the new guide on IR35 on the 30th of November 2023. This guidance will help members comply with the reformed off-payroll working rules (IR35).
Data Protection and Digital Information Bill - The Bill had its report stage on Wednesday 29 November 2023 and was read a third time and passed. It will now proceed to the House of Lords for consideration.
Legal Bitesize video expected on 11 December 2023.
National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) Act 2023 - Section 1 of The National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) Act 2023 reduces the employee primary Class 1 NICs rate that is charged between the Primary Threshold and the Upper Earnings Limit from 12% to 10% with effect from 6 January 2024.
Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024 - These draft Regulations are laid to implement a new statutory entitlement to carer’s leave for employees from 6 April 2024. They ensure that this leave will be available to employees for the purpose of providing, or arranging, care for a dependant with a long-term care need. They are due to come into force on 6 April 2024 and the REC has published an article explaining the legislation here.
Changes announced in the Spring Budget 2024 include the employee primary Class 1 national insurance contributions rate is due to be reduced further from 10% to 8%. This is due to come into effect on the 6th of April 2024.
The Home office have updated the Right to Work Checklist on the 9th of April 2024
On the 19th of April, The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) initiated a call for evidence aimed at examining potential reforms to the fit note process. This initiative seeks to better assist individuals with long-term health conditions in accessing timely work and health support. The call for evidence, announced as part of a broader initiative introduced during the Autumn Statement 2023, will lay the groundwork for further consultations on specific policy proposals. These consultations are expected to be launched later this year.
The Department for Business and Trade has released it's response to the consultation on fair tip distribution, introducing an updated draft of the statutory Code of Practice. The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 ensures employers cannot withhold tips and comes fully into force on 1 July 2024.
The Supreme Court has passed judgment on the case of Mercer v Alternative Fuel Group Ltd [2021] IRLR 620 on the 17th of April 2024.
Facts: Mrs Mercer ("Mercer") was employed at a health and social care charity as a support worker and, at the relevant time, was also a workplace representative for her trade union, Unison. Following a trade dispute in respect of payments for sleep-in shifts, Mercer was involved in planning and organising a series of strikes. She was suspended by her employer for just over two weeks and subjected to a disciplinary process. Mercer presented a claim to the Employment Tribunal. She complained that she had been subjected to a detriment because of her involvement in the strikes, contrary to section 146 of TULRCA.
Held: The Supreme Court ruled that Section 146 of the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) does not safeguard workers from detriment short of dismissal for participating in strikes during working hours. The Court determined that Section 146 only covered industrial action outside of working hours, leaving workers vulnerable to unfair treatment by employers, thus violating Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees the right to freedom of association. Furthermore, the court declared Section 146 incompatible with Article 11, prompting the need for legislative amendments by Parliament to address this inconsistency and ensure alignment with human rights standards.
British Airways PLC v Ms T De Mello and Others: [2024] EAT 53
Facts: British Airways cabin crew members contended that the flat-rate meal allowance provided by the airline, which surpassed actual expenses, should factor into their holiday pay calculations. Initially, the Employment Tribunal ruled that a gap of three months or more between deductions would sever the causal link, aligning with the precedent set in Bear Scotland v Fulton. However, upon reconsideration by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in light of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland v Agnew decision, the case was reassessed.
Held: A tribunal must assess the 'real basis' of a payment to determine whether it genuinely and exclusively covers costs (i.e., for expenses and thus excluded from holiday pay calculations) or if it constitutes a performance payment (i.e., part of normal pay and thus included). While originating from a Northern Ireland Supreme Court decision, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern v Agnew [2024] IRLR 56 should be considered an authoritative interpretation of ERA 1996, s 23. Consequently, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) was not obliged to adhere to the ruling in Bear Scotland v Fulton [2015] IRLR 15, which held that a gap of over three months between deductions inevitably breaks a series. It's worth noting that employers lack statutory authority to designate which leave days are treated as statutory versus contractual. However, Agnew does not prohibit such designation within a contract. Nonetheless, any exercise of such power cannot disadvantage the worker compared to a scenario where the power was not exercised.