Tuesday 4 June 2013

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act Commencement Dates - 3/3

This is the third email containing information about the confirmed commencement dates in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

These are some minor reforms which come into force on 25th June 2013.

  • all hearings in the Employment Appeal Tribunal will be heard by a judge alone (sitting without wing members), unless the judge directs otherwise.

  • the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal will not apply where the reason for the dismissal is, or relates to, the employee's political opinions or affiliation (where the effective date of termination is after 25th June)

  • the date for the annual index-linked increase in the compensatory award will change from February to 6th April (so the next increase will be 6th April 2014).  This is subject to...

  • the Secretary of State will have the power to reduce the cap on the compensatory award, from the current £74,200 to the lower of a year's earnings or the national annual median wage (currently about £28,000).  BIS's Progress on Reform document of March 2013 indicates it intends to implement the one year cap initially (and is silent on the median wage cap).  If the employee's annual earnings are more than £74,200, then the £74,200 cap will still bite.

  • some tweaks relating to Deposit Orders.

Remember that we still don't know the commencement dates for many of the big changes, including Acas Early Conciliation and confidential pre-termination negotiations, although we now know the Underhill tribunal procedural reforms will come into force on 29th July 2013.

Important: the Employment Law MasterClasses are filling up.  Make sure you don't miss out - book your place now.

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