ppma seminar 2016 - employment law update
TRANSCRIPT
Employment Law Update Laura Merrylees and Sheila Attwood
Employment law update - agenda
• Trade Union Act 2016• Public sector exit payments – repayment and cap• Holiday pay• Gender pay gap reporting• Apprenticeship levy
Trade Union Act 2016
Trade Union Act 2016 - Balloting
• 50% turnout threshold of those entitled to vote for all ballots – simple majority of those voting in favour of action• Additional threshold of 40% of those entitled to vote
in ballots related to important public services (IPS) must vote in favour of action
Trade Union Act 2016 – Important public services• Additional 40% threshold applies where the
majority of those are “normally engaged” in the provision of important public services• Government to introduce regulations and guidance
defining those subject to 40% threshold• To include health, education, transport, fire, border
security and other public-services sectors• “Reasonable belief” defence for a trade union
Trade Union Act 2016 – Electronic balloting• Government has committed to an independent
review of electronic balloting for strike ballots within 6 months• No legal commitment to its introduction
Trade Union Act 2016 – Industrial action• Doubling of minimum notice of industrial action to
14 days (or seven by agreement)• Voting paper to include a summary of the dispute,
period within which action is expected to take place and type of industrial action, short of a strike, where relevant• Ballot mandate expires after six months, or up to
nine months if both sides agree
Trade Union Act 2016 – Picketing• Union must appoint a picket supervisor who is
readily identifiable at picketing location • Supervisor to have a letter of authorisation from
union and be familiar with Code• Authorisation letter to be shown to the employer
on request
Trade Union Act 2016 – Check off• Check-off deductions for union members in the
public sector can still be made subject to conditions• Alternative means of payment available to
members• Union makes reasonable payments towards
employer’s costs for the deductions• Government to delay implementation by 12 months
Trade Union Act 2016 – Facility time• Public-sector employers with at least one trade
union official required to publish facility time information• Further regulations required to introduce the
change• Provision to allow Government to bring future
regulations into force capping amount and cost of facility time
Public sector exit payments –
repayment and cap
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016• Provision for repayment contained in the Small
Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 • Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments
Regulations 2016 – Government originally intended to implement by April 2016• Latest consultation closed on 25 January 2016
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016• Provision for higher earning public-sector
employees to repay an exit payment if they re-join the public sector within a year• Earnings threshold of £80,000• Applies to individuals who return to any part of the
public sector• Applies to contractors who return “off-payroll”
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016
• Amount to be repaid will be reduced by a taper over time• Applies to employer payments to provide
unreduced pensions on early retirement• Amount of any statutory redundancy payment will
not be subject to repayment
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016
• Payments in scope for repayment include:• Redundancy (voluntary and compulsory)• Payments of the balance of a fixed-term contract• Settlement agreements
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016
• Excluded payments include:• For incapacity resulting from accident, injury or illness• Payment in lieu of notice• Accrued but untaken leave
Draft Repayment of Public Sector Exit Payments Regulations 2016
• Former employer obliged to keep a record of the payment for three years• Employee obliged to inform old and new employer
if exit payment has been made in last 12 months
Draft Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations 2016• Provision included in the Enterprise Act 2016• Draft Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations 2016 –
expected to come into force in October 2016
Draft Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations 2016• Limits the total aggregate value of an exit payment
to a public-sector employee to £95,000
Draft Public Sector Exit Payment Regulations 2016Payments that form part of the cap include:• Redundancy (voluntary or compulsory)• Payments of the balance of a fixed-term contract• Payment in lieu of notice• Settlement agreements• Employer payments to provide unreduced pensions on early retirement
Excluded payments include:• Injury or ill health related payments• Accrued but untaken leave
Future developments
• Consultation on reforms to public-sector exit payments – closed on 3 May 2016• Consultation on reform of IR35 legislation in the public sector – due
to close on 18 August 2016
Holiday pay
Holiday pay – Overview• Working Time Regulations 1998 implement the
European Working Time Directive• Health & Safety measure• Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ leave in each
leave year
Holiday pay – Overtime hours• Worker must receive “normal remuneration” during
period of paid annual leave• British Airways Plc v Williams and Others –
payments should be included in the calculation of holiday pay if they are “intrinsically linked” to the performance of the worker’s duties• Neal v Freightliner Ltd – Employment Tribunal
decision which found that elements including shift premia and overtime should be included
Holiday pay – Overtime hours• Bear Scotland Ltd and others v Fulton and others;
Hertel (UK) Ltd v Woods and others; Amec Group Ltd v Law and others [2015]• Concerned compulsory but non-guaranteed
overtime • Non-guaranteed overtime to be included in the
calculation of holiday pay• Patterson v Castlereagh Borough Council [2015]
IRLR 721 NICA – inclusion of voluntary overtime where “normally carried out” and was an “appropriately permanent feature” of the worker’s pay
Holiday pay – Overtime hours• Guaranteed and obligatory non-guaranteed
overtime to be included in the calculation of holiday pay (NB appeal in Lock v British Gas)• Voluntary – is it part of “normal remuneration”• Claims – series of deductions broken by a gap of 3
months • The Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations
2014 (SI 2014/3322) – claims brought on or after 1 July 2015 limited to two years
Gender pay gap reporting
Gender pay gap and equal pay
• Current obligations - public sector equality duty• Definitions:• Equal pay – differences between individuals or groups
performing the same or similar work• Gender pay gap – differences in average earnings of men
and women, regardless of role
Why gender pay gap reporting now?
• Representation• Senior levels• More women than men in lower-paid roles
• Impetus• If measure the gender pay gap, and report it,
are more likely to act on it
“What gets measured gets managed; what gets publicly
reported gets better managed”
Gender pay gap reporting
• Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2016• Private and voluntary sector• 250+ employees – someone who “ordinarily works
in Great Britain and whose contract of employment is governed by UK legislation”• Annual reporting
Gender pay gap measures
Five benchmarks to report:• Mean and median pay• Bonus pay• Receipt of bonuses• Pay bands
Definitions• What constitutes pay? • What is a bonus?• Quartile pay bands
Gender pay gap outcomes
• Five benchmarks - no raw data • Confirmation information is accurate• 12-month time lag• Employer’s website, plus government website – league
table or database?• Narrative• Why is there a gap? • What are we doing about it?
“If you don’t tell your story, someone else
will”
What's next?
• Regulations come into force – expected October 2016• Pay – 30 April 2017• Bonuses – 30 April 2016• Public sector – Government pledged to "extend our
plans for gender pay gap reporting…to include the public sector"
Apprenticeship levy
Apprenticeship levy
Paying in….• 6 April 2017• 0.5% of entire paybill (wages, bonuses, commissions,
pension contributions). Minus £15,000pa allowance• All employers, with a paybill of more than £3 million a
year. Payable through PAYE the next month
…Getting out• Digital apprenticeship service account + top-up (England)• Time-bound
Apprenticeship levy – planning ahead
• Funding the levy • Can't be used to pay wages• Change to National Insurance Contributions
• Training• Existing apprenticeships continue under current funding
arrangements• Review of training
• What might you want to change? What roles could be done as an apprenticeship
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