Welcome to the latest edition of "e-news"
from Steele & Co Solicitors. In this issue we report on:
* THE EMPLOYMENT BILL 2001
* CONTRACT FRUSTRATED BY LONG-TERM SICKNESS
* NEED TO WARN AND CONSULT IN A REDUNDANCY SITUATION
* LONG HOURS STRESS FOR BRITISH WORKERS
THE EMPLOYMENT BILL 2001
The Employment Bill 2001 received its First Reading in the House of
Commons on the 8th November 2001. This Bill proposes a number of changes
to the law that will have a wide-ranging effect particularly in matters
relating to maternity/paternity rights and employment tribunals.
The Bill proposes the following maternity/paternity measures:
1. Mothers being able to take up to a year off work as maternity leave,
with the first six months paid and a further six months unpaid (this right
will also be available to adoptive parents);
2. Two weeks paid paternity leave for working fathers;
3. An increase in the rate of statutory maternity pay from £62 to £100; and
4. Reimbursement of maternity, paternity and adoption payments made by
employers, with a full 100% recoverable by small employers and a further
compensation payment on top.
The Government has estimated that from April 2003 over 350,000 new mothers
and around 450,000 new fathers will benefit from these measures.
As for tribunals, the proposals in the Bill include:
1. New ways of handling disputes in the workplace and requirements for
employees to raise grievances with their employer before applying to a
tribunal;
2. A fixed period of conciliation to promote timely settlement of
disputes
3. A fast track system and other measures to modernise employment
tribunals
The Government has also said that it would not now be taking forward
proposals to charge applicants for bringing a claim in a tribunal. The
Bill has received predictably mixed reactions from trade unions and the
business community. John Monks the TUC General Secretary is quoted as
saying "Much of this bill can be warmly welcomed" while in contrast the
FSB have described the Employment Bill as "employment legislation gone
too far".
CONTRACT FRUSTRATED BY LONG-TERM SICKNESS
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently upheld a tribunal's
decision in Hogan v Cambridge County Council that an employee's contract
of employment could be frustrated by long-term illness. Mrs Hogan had been
absent on long-term sick leave from 14th November 1994 and her entitlement
to sick pay ceased on 7th May 1996. On 23rd September 1996 she commenced a
three year degree course and on 4th February 1997 the Council informed her
that her contract had been frustrated.
Mrs Hogan made a complaint of unfair dismissal and breach of contract but
the tribunal held that the contract no longer existed. On appeal the EAT
dismissed the appeal and noted that while termination by frustration
occurs independently of the intention of the parties their conduct may be
relevant as evidence to be considered e.g. Mrs Hogan's commencement of a
degree course. This case is an interesting illustration of how the
doctrine of frustration is decided on the facts of the case regardless of
the actions or intentions of the parties. It is not therefore advisable
for employers to rely on this doctrine and highlights the need for
employers to have a comprehensive long term sickness absence policy in
place.
NEED TO WARN AND CONSULT IN A REDUNDANCY SITUATION
The recent case of Elkuoil v Coney Island Ltd demonstrated the need for
employers to warn employees of a potential redundancy as well as consult
them. In this case Mr Elkuoil was a credit controller whose job
responsibilities were removed with the introduction of an electronic
system in July 1999. Mr Elkuoil was made redundant as there was no
suitable alternative employment available.
A tribunal found that had proper consultation taken place he would have
been employed for another two weeks and awarded him the equivalent of two
weeks wages as compensation. Mr Ekuoil appealed on the basis that his employers had been
aware of the potential redundancy situation before he was made redundant
and ought to have informed him so he could seek alternative employment.
The appeal was allowed by the EAT who reaffirmed that a redundancy should
include a consultation process beginning with the warning that the
employee is at risk. Therefore although two weeks consultation was
sufficient it should have been started in May so that Mr Ekuoil had notice
that his employment was at risk and he could seek alternative employment.
Accordingly, Mr Ekuoil was awarded compensation for the equivalent of 10
weeks pay. This shows that Employers should warn employees as soon as
they are aware that jobs may be at risk and begin the consultation period
shortly afterwards.
LONG HOURS STRESS FOR BRITISH WORKERS
More than half of British workers are suffering from stress and the
problem is getting worse a survey conducted by the Royal & Sun Alliance
has suggested. The research found that long hours coupled with too many
daily tasks are the main causes of stress in Britain's workforce. The
findings announced on National Stress Awareness Day suggest that one in
four workers takes time off to recover from a stress related illness, at a
cost to the economy of £7 billion a year.
Carole Spiers of Royal Sun & Alliance said "If we were talking about a flu
epidemic rather than stress at work there would be a public outcry at the
scale of the problem but while flu tends to go away of its own accord,
stress at work certainly doesn't". This survey demonstrates that with the
signs of increasing stress amongst employees it has become more important
for employers to implement a work-related stress policy.
WE CAN HELP YOU:
Please use the links on this page if you:
* Want to receive more information/advice on any of the matters in
this edition (please give details of the matter you require advice on).
* Want advice on any employment matters
* The employment team also conducts practical in-house training and
workshops for companies on a wide range of issues including:-
Managing sickness absence/stress in the workplace
Misconduct and the disciplinary procedure
Poor performance
Handling redundancy situations
Avoiding unlawful discrimination claims
Avoiding unfair dismissals
Employment law update and practical advice for line managers
* Our aim is to offer line managers practical training to ensure that
costly mistakes are avoided. All of the training workshops are tailored
to meet the exact requirements of each individual business.
* If you are interested in finding out more about such training please
do not hesitate to give us a call.
Visit our web site http://www.steeleslaw.co.uk
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