Queen's Speech: Employment Law Proposals

Thanks to Laurie Anstis of Boyes Turner for giving me permission to reproduce hisblogpost.

The government has just issued its background briefing on the 2013 Queen’s Speech.

Of interest to employment lawyers and HR managers are:

1 The National Insurance Contributions Bill, which will introduce an “Employment Allowance”, add a general anti-avoidance rule for NICs, restrict the use of offshore payroll companies as intermediaries and remove the presumption of self-employment for LLP members.

2 The Deregulation Bill, which will repeal the employment tribunal’s power to make wider recommendations in discrimination cases and make changes to encourage the use of apprenticeships.

3 The Immigration Bill, which amongst other things threatens tougher penalties for employers who employ workers who do not have the right to work in the UK.

There are also separate provisions for changes to teachers’ pay.

This looks quiet compared with recent years, but there are still many changes in the pipeline (such as fees, new tribunal rules and changes to TUPE) which do not require primary legislation and so are not featured in the Queen’s Speech.