A number of significant changes to employment law took effect this April. Highlights include:
A new obligation on claimants to contact ACAS prior to issuing claims (see further ACAS Conciliation Prior to Issuing Employment Tribunal Claims)
Abolition of Discrimination Questionnaires [see Abolition of Equality Questionnaires).
• Extension of right to request flexible working extended from those with those with children, and carers to include ALL employees.
• Increase in rates of maternity, paternity, and adoption pay
• Increase in rate of statutory sick pay (£86.70 to £87.55 per week)
• Maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal claims increased to the lesser of 52 week’s pay or £76,574 (but still dependent on actual financial loss).
• Maximum rate of a weeks’ pay for calculating statutory redundancy pay and basic award in unfair dismissal claims increased from £450 to (a mathematically more demanding) £464.
This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.