GDPR Data protection law is changing from 25 May 2018, when the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. Implementation and compliance with the GDPR will lie with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Penalties for breaching the GDPR are potentially onerous – up to 20 million Euros or 4% of the company’s total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is higher. What will be changing from an employment perspective? Lawful bases for processing personal data – relying on consent At present, most employers rely on consent given by employees, often in employment contracts, to collect
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The key recent changes are summarised below. National Minimum Wage The new figures for the National Minimum Wage are set out below: From 1 April 2018: National Living Wage (Age 25+) £7.83 (33p increase) Standard Adult Rate (Age 21-25) £7.38 (33p increase) Development Rate (Age 18-20) £5.90 (30p increase) Young Workers Rate (Age 16-17) £4.20 (15p increase) Apprentice Rate £3.70 (20p increase) Statutory Pay (maternity, paternity, adoption, sick pay) Statutory Maternity Pay (“SMP”) is paid for 39 weeks of maternity leave as follows: For the first 6 weeks, SMP is paid at 90% of the employee’s normal weekly salary. For
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The Parental Bereavement (Pay and Leave) Bill 2017-19 is being debated in Parliament and, if passed, will allow regulations to give employees who lose a child below the age of 18 (including a still birth after 24 weeks) the right to: At least two weeks’ leave (irrespective of their length of service); At least two weeks’ statutory bereavement pay. Employees with at least 26 weeks’ service will be entitled to be paid the prescribed rate or 90% of their average earnings (whichever is lower); Employees will be protected from detriment, redundancy and dismissal as a result of them taking bereavement
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There are a number of annual increases coming into effect in April 2017. National Minimum Wage From 1 April 2017, the following new rates will apply to the national living and minimum wage:- National Living Wage (Age 25+): £7.50 Standard Adult Rate (Age 21-25): £7.05 Development Rate (Age 18-20): £5.60 Young Workers Rate (Age 16-17): £4.05 Apprentice Rate: £3.50 Statutory Pay (maternity, paternity, adoption, sick pay) Statutory Maternity Pay (“SMP”) is paid for 39 weeks of maternity leave as follows: For the first 6 weeks, SMP is paid at 90% of the employee’s normal weekly salary. For the remaining 33
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The following hourly rates of national minimum wage will apply from 1 April 2017 according to draft Regulations: The national living wage (workers aged 25 and over) will be £7.50. The standard adult rate (workers aged between 21 and 24) will be £7.05. The development rate (workers aged between 18 and 20) will be £5.60. The young workers rate (workers aged under 18 but above the compulsory school age who are not apprentices) will be £4.05. The rate for apprentices will be £3.50.
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Further to our last Employment Newsletter on the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Requirements (www.scullytwiss.com/gender-pay-gap-reporting-requirements-an-overview/), Acas have now published their guidance on the legislation which can be found at: www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5768.
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The Gender Pay Gap Regulations (the final draft of which were published in December 2016) are expected to come into force in April 2017, and will apply to large private and voluntary sector employers (defined as those with 250 or more employees on 5 April of each year). Gender Pay Gap Report Affected employers will be required to publish within 12 months of 5 April 2017: overall gender pay gap figures for relevant employees, calculated using both mean and median average hourly pay; the proportion of men and women in each of four pay bands. Employers will generate their own
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An employment tribunal has decided that Uber drivers are workers for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and the Working Time Regulations 1998 entitling them to, amongst other things, holiday pay and the national minimum wage . Uber’s case was that it is simply a technology platform which puts drivers in touch with passengers and that it is in no way a provider of taxi services and Uber had complex contractual documentation that illustrated this. The tribunal decided that the contractual documentation did not correspond with reality and, accordingly, disregarded it.
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Annual National Minimum Wage Rate Increases From 1 October 2016 the National Minimum Wage increased: The National Living Wage (for workers aged 25 and over) remained at £7.20 an hour The standard adult rate (for workers aged 21 to 24) rose from £6.70 to £6.95 an hour The rate for workers aged between 18 and 20 rose from £5.30 to £5.55 an hour The rate for workers aged under 18 (but above the compulsory school age who are not apprentices) rose from £3.87 to £4.00 an hour The rate for apprentices rose from £3.30 to £3.40 an hour Scully Twiss
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HM Revenue & Customs has published draft legislation changing the taxation of termination payments, intended to come into force April 2018. The main changes are:- • make all PILONs (payments in lieu of notice) taxable, even if they are non-contractual; • require payment of employer NICs on sums over £30,000 (not currently payable).
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