As summer starts to come to an end, we take a look at some of the expected key employment law developments in the final four months of 2012

4 September 2012

The combined appeals of Ladele and McFarlane v the United Kingdom [2011] ECHR 737 and Eweida and Chaplin v the United Kingdom [2011] ECHR 738 will be heard by the European Court of Human Rights, where the Court will consider whether the right to manifest religion or belief, as protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was breached when: Ladele was disciplined for refusing to carry out civil partnership ceremonies, McFarlane was dismissed for refusing to provide psycho-sexual counselling to same-sex couples and Eweida and Chaplin were restricted from visibly wearing a cross or crucifix at work.

17 September 2012

The Low Pay Commission’s consultation on the operation of the national minimum wage closes.

19 September 2012

The consultation on changes to the collective redundancy rules closes.

30 September 2012

The consultation on the introduction of a UK Bill of Rights closes.

1 October 2012

Some changes to national minimum wage (NMW) rates come into force, i.e. the adult rate increases from £6.08 to £6.19 an hour, and the apprentice rate increases from £2.60 to £2.65, but the rates for 18-20 year olds and 16-17 year olds will not increase, remaining at £4.98 and £3.68 respectively. The accommodation offset will increase by 9p to £4.82 per day.

The automatic enrolment into pensions for employers with 250 or more members in their PAYE scheme comes into force, i.e. eligible employees will be automatically enrolled into pensions with mandatory employer contributions.

5 October 2012

This is the latest possible date for retirement under the statutory retirement procedure. If an employer allowed an employee to work beyond his or her intended day of retirement, the maximum extension possible allowed by the DRA provisions is six months.

November 2012

The Government is expected to respond to the independent review of sickness absence procedures, which includes the creation of an Independent Assessment Service to provide an in-depth assessment of individuals’ physical and/or mental function when they have been signed off work for four weeks.

During the autumn/winter of 2012

The Government intends to consult on: (i) Mr Justice Underhill’s review of the employment tribunal rules; and (ii) mandatory pay audits for employers who lose equal pay claims.

The Government is expected to respond to the remaining elements of its May 2011 Modern Workplaces consultation on: (i) a shared system of flexible parental leave; (ii) extending the right to the right to request flexible working to all employees employed for 26 consecutive weeks; and (iii) changing the Working Time Regulations to take account of European Case Law with regard to the carry-over of outstanding statutory annual leave into the next ‘leave year’ where a worker has been unable to take it due to sickness or maternity leave, and additionally where it is untaken due to absence on adoption, parental and paternity leave (and, in due course, to the proposed new flexible parental leave rights).

The Government may consult on improving the operation of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, depending upon the outcome of the call for evidence on the effectiveness of the Regulations and how they might be improved, if at all.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill 2012-13 will continue its progress through Parliament, which contains a number of employment law reforms, including: (i) imposing a duty on the parties and Acas to attempt pre-claim conciliation before presenting a claim to an employment tribunal; (ii) a ‘rapid resolution’ scheme for some claims using legal officers; allowing for proceedings in the EAT to be heard by a judge sitting alone, unless otherwise directed; (iii) financial penalties for employers in breach of employment law where the employer’s behaviour in committing the breach had one or more aggravating features; (iv) changing the rules for calculating the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal; and (v) making discussions relating to offers to terminate employment inadmissible in unfair dismissal claims.