New Legislation in force from 1 October 2004

30 Septermber 2004

Once again, employers are faced with a range of new legislation. We summarise the major changes below. If you have any questions, or issues that need to be dealt with on these, or any other subjects, we would be happy to help.

Statutory dispute resolution procedures

Most people have heard about the new statutory dispute resolution procedures, coming into force under the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004, which will affect all businesses, whatever their size. We are sending a separate alerter outlining the transitional provisions and how to assess whether a dispute is caught by the new provisions or not. 

National Minimum Wage

From 1 October, the national minimum wage will increase to £4.85 per hour for workers older than 22 and to £4.10 for workers between 18 and 22. There will also be a new rate which applies to 16 and 17 year olds, of £3.00 per hour.

Disability Discrimination

On 1 October 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 come into force. These regulations will make the following changes: 

• The small employer exemption which previously kept businesses with less than 15 employees outside the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act, disappears.
• Police officers, fire fighters, prison officers, workers on ships, aircraft and hovercraft and partners in business partnerships will have protection from discrimination on the ground of disability.
• There will be a definition of direct discrimination (which cannot be justified).
• Harassment on the grounds of disability is outlawed.
• Work placements will come within the scope of the Act.
• The burden of proof is reversed - if an applicant is able to satisfy a tribunal that the facts of his or her case tend to show that discrimination took place, then responsibility moves to the respondent to show that there was no discrimination.
• The final duties under part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 relating to access to goods, facilities and services come into force. Service providers in the private, public or voluntary sector will be under a duty to take reasonable steps to facilitate access to their premises by disabled people. 

Pensions and disability

In force on the same day are the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Pensions) Regulations 2003. These introduce a non-discrimination rule into every occupational pension scheme, requiring managers and trustees of schemes to refrain from discriminating against or harassing a relevant disabled person when carrying out their functions in relation to that scheme. This includes entrance to, or treatment as a member of, the scheme. Trustees and managers will also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments in relation to provisions, criteria or practices of the scheme and to ensure that the physical features of the premises they occupy do not place a relevant disabled person at a disadvantage. The employer will be treated as a party to any proceedings under these Regulations. 

Tribunal rules

The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004 also come into force from 1 October. These 

• Introduce a new "Overriding Objective" into Tribunal procedure which outlines the considerations to be taken into account by a tribunal to deal with a case justly. 
• Bring in a fixed conciliation period in most cases, during which ACAS will try to assist the parties to reach agreement. 
• Give tribunals power to award unrepresented parties £25 per hour for preparing for the proceedings.
• Give tribunals power to award costs against a party or its representatives for non-compliance with a direction or order.
• Enforce the use, from 6 April 2005, of prescribed forms. 
• Give tribunals power to issue a default judgment against a respondent where the claim appears uncontested.