An ‘indicative timetable’ has been published by The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding when the provisions of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 are due to come into force.
The policy paper reveals that the Amendment to the compensatory award limit for unfair dismissal provision is due to be introduced next month, which will see the Government implementing a cap of 12 months’ pay, which will apply when the compensatory award limit amount is less than the overall cap.
In October of this year, a repeal of the third-party harassment provisions will come into force. Under the current third-party harassment provisions contained within the Equality Act 2010, employers can be held liable for any harassment suffered by their employees by third parties under certain circumstances. However, the Government believes that the requirement placed upon employers to prevent any harassment is not workable, hence the proposed repeal.
October will also see changes made to the strict liability provisions under s.47 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Currently, the provisions do not entitle employers to defend a claim for a health and safety failing on the basis that they have done all they can to prevent the failing from taking place. The changes will see some fault or negligence resulting from the employer before liability for the failing can be established.
The agricultural minimum wage will be abolished in October of this year, with the national minimum wage introduced into the sector.
April 2014 will see early conciliation implemented by the Government, which will require potential claimants to lodge information relating to their claim with The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), prior to submitting a tribunal claim. This month will also see the repeal of the discrimination questionnaire procedure, which currently allows potential claimants to extract information from a person or organisation that they believe has discriminated against them.
October 2014 will see the introduction of the power to require equal pay audits. From this month onwards, employment tribunals will be obliged to order an equal pay audit in cases where the employer has failed to meet the equal pay provisions under the Equality Act 2010, with the exception of a few circumstances.