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New training prospectus for 2008/2009

Whether you are an HR professional, senior manager or an in-house lawyer, you will know that it is increasingly difficult to keep up with legal developments in the employment and pensions field. Not only is it a struggle to keep track of the growing case law and legislation, it is also a challenge to understand fully their impact on the workplace.

6 April - changes to note

A number of changes to employment law usually take place in April and this year is no different. The forthcoming changes include the following:

• Amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (SDA): pregnancy, maternity and harassment - the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Amendment) Regulations 2008 amend the SDA, to bring the Act into line with the Equal Treatment Directive (click here to read our recent summary of the changes)
  
  
• Amendments to the SDA: goods and services - the Sex Discrimination (Amendment of Legislation) Regulations 2008 are also due to amend the SDA, in order to implement the Gender Directive in the provision of goods and services (click here to read our recent summary of the changes)
  
  
• Information and consultation obligations - the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 will be extended to apply to employers with 50 or more employees
  
  
• New statutory rates - statutory sick pay will increase from £72.55 to £75.40, and the flat rate of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay will increase from £112.75 to £117.18
  
  
• Corporate manslaughter - the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 will come into force, creating a new offence of corporate manslaughter

Grievance addressed to transferor copied to transferee - wide interpretation

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) recently confirmed that a grievance addressed to the transferor following a transfer under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) which was later copied to the transferee did comply with step 1 of the standard grievance procedure.

In Bottomley and others v Wakefield District Housing, the claimants had, via their solicitor and after being transferred to their current employer under TUPE, submitted equal pay questionnaires and grievances to their former employer, a local authority. Their complaint was essentially that they were not being paid the same rate as their comparators. The stated comparators were employed by the former employer and did not transfer to the current employer along with the claimants. The questionnaire and grievance were subsequently copied to the current employer, with references to the former employer and comparators from the former employer remaining in the documentation. The current employer took the position that this was not a grievance which fell within the statutory regime. Claims were then brought in the tribunal against the current employer under the Equal Pay Act 1970.

Although the grievance was addressed to the former, rather than current, employer and the stated comparators did not work for the current employer, the EAT overturned the decision of the tribunal and confirmed that it was a valid step 1 grievance. The requirements for a step 1 grievance, that the employee must set out the grievance in writing and send it to the employer, were considered to be minimal.

The fact that the grievance referred to comparators who were not employees of the current employer was a good point but it did not mean that it lost its potency as a grievance. The steps required by an employer on receipt of a grievance were essentially to set up a meeting and it may have been that its response was that the comparators did not work for them and that it had nothing to do with the former employer. The grievance as it stood was therefore a valid grievance, despite being addressed to the former employer and naming comparators who had not transferred to the new employer. 

Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive merge

The Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive merged this week to form a single national regulatory body responsible for promoting the cause of better health and safety at work. The merged body will be called the Health and Safety Executive and will provide greater clarity and transparency whilst maintaining its public accountability.

ACAS urges businesses to stay healthy

ACAS has urged businesses to save money and reduce absenteeism by focusing on ensuring employees are healthy at work. Following the findings from a review of the health of the working age population by Dame Carol Black (National Director for Health and Work), ACAS has launched a new guide to help businesses promote and manage a healthy workplace.

The key areas covered in the new ACAS guide include:

• how to recognise health problems with your employees 
  
  
• what makes a healthy workplace 
  
  
• a health, work and wellbeing checklist 
  
  
• further sources of expert information on health, work and wellbeing

Sexism in the City - new campaign

A major new campaign, Sexism and the City, was launched this week by the Fawcett Society, calling for tough action to stamp out sexism in UK workplaces. 

In support of the new campaign, the Fawcett Society states that sexism remains rife in the workplace, quoting the following statistics:

• only 11% of FTSE 100 company directors are women
  
  
• 30,000 women lose their jobs every year in the UK simply for being pregnant 
  
  
• two thirds of low paid workers are women 
  
  
• women working full-time are paid on average 17% less than men 
  
  
• 18% of sex discrimination compensation awards are for sexual harassment

Commenting on the campaign, Dr Katherine Rake, the Director of the Fawcett Society, said:
"The Sexism and the City campaign is calling upon Government, businesses and individual employees to take urgent action. Everyone pays the price for sexism, so everyone has a role to play in stamping it out."

Home working reduces stress

Working from home reduces stress in office workers, according to research, led by Durham Business School, Durham University. Whilst some home workers worried about missing out on "water-cooler networking", the study found that working from home generally had a positive effect on an employee's work/life balance, giving them more time with family and leading to less stress and burnout.

According to the study of over 700 staff in managerial or professional positions, 43% of respondents who worked more than 20 hours per week at home reported feeling a great deal of stress because of their job compared to 65% of employees who worked solely in the office. The research also found a clear link between working from home and improved well-being, but also revealed worries that home working could harm career prospects and development.

Equality and Human Rights Commission -
£10 million awarded for grants

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has announced its first grants programme, awarding over £10 million of funding to organisations across England, Scotland and Wales to promote the values of fairness and good relations. The EHRC has awarded funding in three priority areas, in order to:

• encourage good relations;
  
  
• promote equality and human rights; and 
  
  
• support the development of legal cases that help people get a fair deal.

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