Employment Law Round-Up
A number of key pieces of employment legislation have been introduced in the UK so far in 2007, with many more expected to come into force before the end of the year.
Farleys employment law specialist, Iain Lovejoy, examines the impacts of recent and upcoming amendments to employment law.
Smoke-Free Regulations
One of the biggest pieces of new legislation to be introduced for a number of years was the ban on smoking in public places on July 1st.
The Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006 aimed to reduce exposure to second hand smoke and help more people quit smoking. In addition to making it illegal to smoke in the indoor parts of pubs, clubs and restaurants, all workplaces and shared work vehicles must also be smoke-free.
Employers must ensure that by now they have displayed no-smoking signs in their premises and introduced a no-smoking policy for employees to adhere to. Local authorities have been designated as the enforcement authority but are so far working in partnership with businesses to ensure people are sticking to the new policy.
Minimum Statutory Holiday Entitlement Increase
Earlier this year the Government announced proposals to increase workers' minimum holiday entitlement from 20 days per year to 28.
The move will see up to six million workers benefit from an extra eight days' holiday a year as some employers include the eight bank holidays as part of workers' 20 day annual leave entitlement.
The increase will be introduced in two phases: on October 1 2007, annual leave entitlement will increase from 20 to 24 days and this will go to 28 days on October 1 2008.
Women, part-time and low-paid workers, and employees from minority ethnic minorities stand to gain the most from the new regulations.
The increase will move UK workers' annual leave entitlement closer to that of workers in other European countries, where holiday allowances are more generous. Workers in Ireland are entitled to 29 days and in Austria workers are entitled to 38 days.
National Minimum Wage Regulations
On October 1 2007 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will rise from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour. Former trade and industry secretary made the announcement after accepting recommendations from the Low Pay Commission which will also see increases from £4.45 to £4.60 for 18 to 21 year olds and from £3.30 to £3.40 for 16 to 17 year olds.
The new rates mean the minimum wage has gone up by almost 30 per cent more than the rate of inflation since it was introduced in 1999. The move will benefit more than one million workers, two-thirds of whom are low paid women.
The Government has also announced tougher enforcement of the minimum wage so employers must make sure they are prepared for the new rates in October.
Employment Law Case Study: Racial Harassment
Employers can be held liable if an employee subjects a work colleague to unlawful harassment, but they may also soon be held liable if they fail to prevent staff being racially abused by customers.
A recent EAT (Gravell v London Borough of Bexley) tribunal heard that Ms Gravell, who is white and British, was told in her induction with Bexley Council's Housing Department that it was their policy to ignore racist comments from customers and not to challenge them.
This meant she often had to listen to customers using language she found racially offensive and she felt this constituted racial harassment for which her employer was responsible.
An employment tribunal felt that the claim did not have reasonable grounds of success and so struck it out, but on appeal earlier this year, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) reinstated the claim, sending it back to the tribunal for a full hearing.
The EAT said the decision the original tribunal had based its verdict on was about direct discrimination, where a comparison has to be made with the way others are or may be treated. In contrast, the harassment provisions in the RRA do not require any such comparison to be made. It was therefore arguable that unlawful harassment had taken place in the Gravell case.
The appeal is still to be heard by the House of Lords, but it appears that its verdict will have a huge impact on employers' current stance on racial harassment.
If you need advice on employment legislation, please contact Iain Lovejoy on 01254 229 800, or Contact Us.
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