Employment Law ENEWS

31 October 2005

Welcome to the latest edition of employment law enews. In this edition we look at The Work and Families Bill, Flexible Working Measures and details of our Dealing with Personal Disasters seminar.

The Work and Families Bill

The Work and Families Bill which was introduced by the House of Commons on the 18 October 2005 is a significant step towards making work family friendly. Although the Bill is being welcomed by employees and trade unions, small businesses are likely to be less enthusiastic.

The Bill, which is due to come into force in April 2007 will see longer periods of maternity and paternity leave, more flexible working for adult carers and the exclusion of bank holidays from employees' statutory minimum holiday entitlement.

At present new mothers are entitled to six months ordinary maternity leave and fathers are entitled to two weeks paternity leave. The Bill provides for maternity and adoption leave to be extended by three months, taking it to a total of nine months paid leave. The Government is aiming towards one years paid maternity as part of their commitment to creating more choice for parents and ensuring that every child has the best start to life.

The law is also beginning to recognise that the modern father wants to play a role in caring for children and as of April 2007 new fathers will be able to take up to six months' paternity leave during their child's first year, in addition to the current two weeks leave. This will include an option to transfer the last three months of the mothers paid leave to the father, if the mother returns to work.

Significantly the Bill also proposes important new holiday rights, which will be of particular benefit to part-time workers. It will be illegal for employers to include bank holidays in the 20-day European minimum holiday entitlement. The UK at present is the only European country to include bank holidays in the minimum holiday entitlement.

The Bill also aims to encourage communication between employers and employees, by introducing 'keeping in touch' days which would allow women to return to work for odd days without losing their maternity pay. The Bill will provide employers with greater certainty by increasing the period of notice required from a mother when returning to work, from one to two months.

One of the other important proposals in the Bill is the extension of the right to request flexible working to include adult carers. The Government is consulting on the definition of carer some time next year.

These proposals when implemented will have far reaching implications for employers because many contracts of employment and maternity policies as they stand will become unlawful. For more information about current maternity and paternity statutory requirements, or to discuss how the Families Bill will affect your existing policies please contact us here at Steeles Law.

Flexible Working Measures

On the 13 September 2005, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) published its final report on part-time and flexible working, recommending that the statutory right to request flexible working should be extended to all employees at all levels of the economy.

Employers are still failing to fully capitalise on part-time workers' qualifications, skills and previous management experience. Part-time women workers remain mostly limited to low-paid jobs in certain sectors, such as retail and this is having a long-term effect on women's earnings and promotional prospects.

The EOC investigations highlighted that flexible working is now becoming increasingly desirable to men and women at various stages of their lives, including as students and after retirement. The EOC has specifically recommended that flexible working should be extended to allow adult carers and parents of older children to work part-time.

At present, an employer may simply refuse a request for flexible working made by an employee, provided it does so on one of the statutory grounds, which include additional cost to the employer or detrimental effect on its ability to meet customer demand. To address this, the EOC has suggested that the Government increase the maximum compensation award available at the employment tribunals, which is currently capped at eight weeks' pay and introduce a statutory duty on employers to give serious consideration to flexible working requests.

It is best practice for employers to have a flexible working policy to which employees can refer for guidance. If you would like further information on flexible working policies or part-time workers please contact the steeles employment team.

Stress at Work

It is estimated that in 2004 stress cost the UK ecomony £13.5 billion through lost productivity and increased illness at work. But how do employees deal with personal disasters away from work such as the death of a relative or a divorce and does this impact on their effectiveness at work ? All these issues are to be dealt with at a steeles breakfast briefing for HR Managers entitled "Dealing With Personal Disasters" to be held at UEA Sportspark, Norwich on 29th November 2005 from 7.45am to 10.30 am.

Over a full English breakfast we will consider your legal duties and whether you should go further as a responsible employer as well as the essential information you need to know when faced with an employee having these problems. We are joined by Dr Trevor Cummings from Cavell and Lind Ltd occupational health specialists who will talk about identifying and managing non-work related stress and Shelagh Phillips from Cruse the leading charity dealing with bereavement and bereavement counselling." This briefing costs £40 (including breakfast), to reserve your place please call 01603 598000 or book online

This article copyright © 2005 Steeles Law. All rights reserved.