Flexible Working

The Government has accepted the conclusions of the Walsh Report to extend the right to request flexible working to parents with children up to the age of 16 from April 2009. 

The current flexible working legislation covers parents with children under the age of six or with disabled children under the age of 18.

Agency Workers

The Government has agreed a deal with the TUC and the CBI that will see agency workers in the UK receive equal treatment with comparable permanent workers after 12 weeks’ employment.  Agreement has been reached on the following points:

After 12 weeks in a job there will be an entitlement to equal treatment.

Equal treatment will be defined to mean at least the same basic working and employment conditions that would apply to the workers concerned if they had been recruited directly by the business to occupy the same job.  However, it will not cover occupational pension schemes.

The Government hopes to introduce this in the next parliamentary session (2009).

National Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2008 have been published in draft.  Regulations 1, 4 and 7 come into force on the day after the day on which the Regulations are made.  The other regulations come into force on 1 October 2008.  The main provisions are as follows:

Regulation 3 increases the principal rate of the national minimum wage from £5.52 to £5.73 per hour. The Regulations also increase the rate paid to workers aged between 18 and 21 from £4.60 to £4.77 per hour and the rate to be paid to workers aged below 18 who have ceased to be of compulsory school age from £3.40 to £3.53 per hour.

Regulation 4 clarifies when workers on schemes made under Government arrangements qualify for the national minimum wage.  It adds a requirement that a worker must be remunerated or entitled to be remunerated by the employer in order to qualify for the national minimum wage.  This is to ensure that workers who are in receipt of state benefits rather than remuneration from an employer do not qualify for the national minimum wage.  Reimbursement of expenses actually incurred in the performance of the work, or reasonably incurred in order for the worker to perform his work, is not considered to be remuneration.  Regulation 4 also extends the period for which a worker participating on a work trial does not qualify for the national minimum wage from three weeks to six weeks.

Regulation 6 amends the per day value of the accommodation amount which is applicable where an employer provides a worker with living accommodation.  The amendment increases the amount from £4.30 to £4.46 for each day that accommodation is provided.

Time Off for Training

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has issued a consultation paper on the proposed new right to request time off for training.  The right to request time to train would work by giving employees a legal right to ask their employer to give them time away from their mainstream duties to undertake relevant training, which their employers would be required to seriously consider.  Procedurally, the new right would closely follow the legal model of the current right to request flexible working.  There would be no legal right for a request to be granted if there was a good business reason for the employer turning down the request.  Employees’ requests could be to undertake accredited programmes leading to a qualification, or for unaccredited training to help them develop a specific skill relevant to their job.  In both cases, the only requirement would be that training should help improve business performance and productivity.  It is intended to apply only to employees who have been working for their employer for at least 26 weeks. 

It is currently expected the new right will come into force in 2010. 

Equality Bill

The Government has confirmed that various pieces of existing discrimination legislation will be replaced by the forthcoming Equality Bill.

The Bill will:

Extend positive action so that employers can take under-representation into account when selecting between two equally qualified candidates.  Accordingly, managers of white, male dominated workforces will be able to address this issue by giving preference to female or ethnic minority candidates so long as they are equally suitable.
Outlaw pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts and make it unlawful to prevent employees from discussing their pay, in an attempt to reduce the gender pay gap.
Introduce wider powers for employment tribunals to make recommendations in unlawful discrimination claims, so that recommendations can apply to the whole workforce and not just the successful claimant.  Such recommendations might include implementing an equal opportunities policy or reviewing pay policies.  Failure to comply with such recommendations could be taken into account in any further claims against the employer.