A multitude of new laws from the 2006 Companies Act all came into force on October 1, including the first stage of an increase in statutory holiday entitlement and a rise in the national minimum wage.The key points of the employment law legislation are:
The four week paid statutory annual leave entitlement have been increased by 1.6 weeks by the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007.
The extension will be implemented in two stages, with the annual statutory entitlement increased to 4.8 weeks from 1st October 2007 and 5.6 weeks from 1st April 2009.
From 1st April 2009, then, a five day a week worker will be entitled to 28 days statutory annual leave. Although this, in essence, equates to the current entitlement of 20 days plus the eight public bank holidays, there will be no new right to take time off on the public holidays themselves.
Employers who, as at October 1 2007, contractually provide all their workers with ‘statutory entitlement plus public holidays’ need not provide the workers with additional leave under the new rules.
Until April 2009, employers may make payments in lieu of the additional 0.8 week entitlement introduced on 1st October 2007. Thereafter, as with the current four week statutory leave entitlement, the extended leave may not be replaced by a payment in lieu except where a worker’s employment is terminated.
As with the current four week entitlement, the additional entitlement of 1.6 weeks may be carried over into the following leave year.
Employers whose employees’ leave is increased owing to the new rules will be obliged by S.4 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to provide those employees with a written statement containing details of this change to their employment particulars.
One of the other most important employment law changes is the increase in the minimum wage which was also implemented on October 1st.
The minimum wage for workers aged 22 and over has risen from £5.35 to £5.52.
For workers aged 18-21 and those aged 22 and over, who are taking part in accredited training in the first six months of employment, the wage has risen from £4.45 to £4.60.
Workers aged 16 and 17, saw their minimum wage entitlement rise from £3.30 to £3.40.
If you require any further information on the new employment law legislation, please contact our helpline on 0161 785 2000.
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