The new pensions obligations require employers to enrol their workers into a qualifying pension scheme if they are not already in one. An employer can use an occupational or personal pension scheme if it meets certain quality requirements or else enrol workers in the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), the government scheme. To be eligible a worker must be between age 22 and state pension age and must earn at least £8,105 a year (in 2012/13). Workers include permanent and temporary employees and agency workers.

Which employers have to comply?

The new pension obligations apply to all employers in the UK, large and small.

When do I need to have pensions in place?

There will be various staging dates, with larger employers having to comply from 1 October 2012. Employers with 250 or more employees will have staging dates running between 1 October 2012 and 1 February 2014. Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be assigned staging dates running from 1 April 2014 to 1 April 2017.

How much will it cost?

On each worker’s earnings over a minimum of (currently £5,715) up to a maximum limit of (currently £38,185) an employer will have to pay

• From October 2012 to September 2017: 1%
• October 2017 to September 2018: 2%
• October 2018 onwards: 3%

If you are a worker then you will also be required to contribute into the pension scheme for your earnings over a minimum of (currently £5,715) up to a maximum limit of (currently £38,185)

• From October 2012 to September 2017: 2%
• October 2017 to September 2018: 5%
• October 2018 onwards: 8%

What if employees do not want to pay into a pension scheme?

Workers who have been automatically enrolled will have a statutory right to opt out of whichever scheme they have joined, within prescribed time limits. Workers who have opted out will be automatically re-enrolled every three years during a six-month window. Workers who are not automatically enrolled (for example, because they earn less than the earnings trigger or they opted out or are aged under 22) can opt in by giving their employer notice requiring the employer to arrange for them to join an automatic enrolment scheme. But they can only do this once in a 12-month period. Individuals earning less than the lower end of the qualifying earnings band can opt into a pension scheme too, but will not be entitled to receive any employer contributions.

What happens if employers don’t comply?

Employers will not be allowed to induce workers to opt out of scheme membership or make job offers conditional on opting out. The Pensions Regulator will police employer compliance. Employers that breach the new duties will face compliance notices and penalties that vary according to the employer’s size. Large employers that do not comply could be liable for escalating penalties of £10,000 a day. Criminal penalties could apply in the case of “wilful” failure to comply.

• The standard adult rate (workers aged 21 and over) will rise to £6.19 per hour (up 1.8% from £6.08).
• The development rate (workers aged between 18 and 20) will remain at £4.98 per hour.
• The young workers rate (workers aged under 18 but above the compulsory school age who are not apprentices) will remain at £3.68 per hour.
• The rate for apprentices will rise to £2.65 per hour (up 1.9% from £2.60).
• The accommodation offset will rise to £4.82 per day (up 1.9% from £4.73).

BIS also stated that it will not implement the revised EU Directive on Parental Leave (No. 2010/18) in March 2012. Instead, due to the ongoing Modern Workplaces policy development, the Government will use the additional year’s grace allowed by Art. 2(3) of the Directive and implement the changes in March 2013. Consequently, the number of weeks of unpaid parental leave will increase to 18 per parent per child ahead of the other changes proposed in the consultation for 2015, such as a new flexible system of shared parental leave and an extension of the right to request flexible working.

Further details on the intended dates for a number of reforms announced last year as part of the Employment Law Review were given by the Employment Relations Minister Edward Davey in a written answer to Parliament on 17 January. Subject to parliamentary approval, changes to be effected via secondary legislation – witness statements being taken as read, the removal of witness expenses, judges sitting alone in unfair dismissal cases and changes to limits for cost awards and deposit orders – will come into force on 6 April 2012. Measures requiring primary legislation, including early conciliation, financial penalties for employers, judges sitting alone in the EAT as a default arrangement and an amended formula for uprating tribunal awards and redundancy payments, will be implemented when parliamentary time allows. The revised procedural code for employment tribunals expected as a result of Mr Justice Underhill’s fundamental review of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure is expected to come into force in 2013, following public consultation and subject to parliamentary approval.

The main proposals include the following:

• qualifying period to claim unfair dismissal to increase from 1 year’s employment to 2 years;
• all claims to undergo mediation via ACAS, before they can be lodged with the tribunal;
• the introduction of protected conversations between an employer and employee (but discriminatory acts will be excluded);
• a ‘rapid resolution scheme’, to enable simple claims to be settled within three months;
• financial penalties for employers who breach employment rights;
• CRB checks to be portable, so there would be no need for a fresh application when moving jobs; and
• maternity and paternity leave to provide for greater involvement for fathers.

To discuss how these changes may effect you, or anything else please contact us by emailing legalteam@baileyfields.com or calling 01233 822537

Bullying and harassment in the workplace give rise to a number of legal issues:

• An employer may be liable under the discrimination legislation if it fails to protect its employees and other workers from harassment in the course of their employment.
• The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may also impose liability on an employer for a course of conduct amounting to harassment by an employee.
• Employers also have a number of implied contractual duties, including a duty to provide a safe and suitable working environment, a duty not to destroy mutual trust and confidence, and a duty to provide redress of grievances.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has proposed the abolition of the current default retirement age of 65.

The Government has brought forward its review of the retirement age of 65 from 2011 to 2010 and it appears likely that the Government will increase the age of retirement in the near future. There is no clear date of when this will be, although the closing date for submissions of evidence for the Government’s research into employers’ aged-based practices was 1 February 2010.

It has also been suggested that the right to request working flexibly should be extended to everyone. EHRC’s research showed that older workers would like to work more flexibly, both in terms of hours of work and location (for example, around 40% would like to stay in their current jobs, but with greater flexibility in hours or days worked).

Read the rest of this article in the Winter 2010 Issue of Orchardnews by clicking here

Read the full article at http://www.expresslegalnetwork.co.uk/orchardnews