October Changes to Employment Law

Here are the main changes coming to employment law next month:

• increase in minimum wage (to £5.73 for adults)
• women on additional maternity leave become entitled to the same terms and conditions of employment as when they were on ordinary maternity leave (for babies expected after 5th October)
• changes to requirements for displaying an employer's liability insurance certificate - basically, it will become okay to make an electronic copy available rather than having a hard copy on display (see here)
• Incapacity Benefit and Income Support are replaced by Employment and Support Allowance
• amendment to the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable) Treatment Regulations, removing the provision that agency workers for less than three months' duration are excluded from SSP (see here for draft Regs)

for new applicants who are claiming on incapacity grounds