Shared Parental Leave (SPL) – Employers are you ready?

Expected to take effect for parents of children born or placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015.

The new proposed system will enable mothers to share 50 weeks of their 52 weeks maternity leave and 37 weeks of their 39 weeks statutory maternity pay with their partner when they opt into it.

Some key points from the proposals are:

  • The mother and her partner can take their leave together if they wish, or take it in succession.
  • Each parent will have the right to have up to 20 ‘Keeping in touch’ (KIT) days during SPL (this is in addition to the ten days allowed during maternity and adoption leave).
  • Employees who have taken SPL will have the right to return to the same job if the total leave taken is 26 weeks or less in aggregate, even if the leave is taken in discontinuous blocks.

Zero Hours Contracts – Forthcoming Changes

More regulation of zero hours contracts, such as a ban on exclusivity clauses are on the cards.  The government intends to develop a code of practice by the end of 2014.

New Legislation on Ante-Natal Appointments

From 1st October 2014, employed fathers (or the mother’s partner) will be given the right to take unpaid leave to attend two antenatal appointments, make sure your business is ready..

Employers do you know your Pensions Auto-enrolment staging date?

Pensions auto-enrolment is being rolled out gradually over a number of years.  All employers have been given their own staging date (this means when auto-enrolment is launched in their organisation) – the date is linked to the organisation’s size.  The largest organisations started in October 2012.  If you employ between 50 and 249 people your staging date will be any time from 1st April 2014 up to 1st April 2015. If you employ fewer than 50 employees, your staging date will be between 1st June 2015 and 1st April 2017.  Do you know your date?  How do you find out what it is?  What steps do you need to take and when?  We can help you, contact ConciseHR today – info@concisehr.co.uk

Flexible Working – are you prepared for the changes on 30th June 2014?

The right to request flexible working will be extended to cover all employees after 26 weeks’ service, rather than just parents with children under 17 years, or 18 in the case of a disabled child, and certain carers.  Staff will be restricted to making one application a year, and employers still have the right to refuse requests on business grounds.   Employers need to be looking at their internal policies and procedure to ensure they comply with the new provisions.  This significant extension could also pose risk for employers who may face discrimination claims if one flexible working request is seen to have not been treated as fairly as another.

ConciseHR Management Guidance Packs

If you’d like HR training for your managers, ConciseHR are ready to help..  If, however, you’d prefer us to provide you with user-friendly Management Guidance Packs with all the required legislative information and packed full of useful hints and tips, contact ConciseHR today.  And remember, we’ll always tailor them to suit the exact needs of your business.

Employment Tribunal Changes

A couple of important changes to Employment Tribunals, feel free to contact ConciseHR to talk these through.  Effective now:

 

  • Claimants must now send details of their dispute to ACAS before they can initiate an employment tribunal claim.  ACAS role will be to attempt conciliation and settlement
  • Employment Tribunals can levy a financial penality of up to £5000 on employers found to have breached an employee’s employment rights.

Changes to Flexible Working

Look out for…. changes to flexible working.  Later this year the right to request flexible working will be extended to ALL employees with 26 weeks’ service.  Begins 30th June 2014