| | Date Posted: 07/09/2009 | Statutory Payments Increases
Upcoming changes to the National Minimum Wage (NMW)
From the 1 October 2009, the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2009, shall increase the current hourly rate of NMW as follows:
o From £5.73 to £5.80 for those aged 22 and over
o From £4.77 to £4.83 for those aged 18-21
o From £3.53 to £3.57 for those aged 16-17
o From £4.46 to £4.51 for employers who provide workers with living accommodation
Increase in Statutory Redundancy Pay (SRP)
SRP is a guaranteed payment given to employees with at least two years service and is calculated according to age, length of service and weekly pay, and is due to increase this year. The Government wishes to provide more support to individuals who are made redundant, whilst not placing an onerous burden on employers.
From 1 October 2009, the weekly limit used to calculate SRP will increase from £350 to £380. Therefore, the potential maximum SRP that could be given would be £11,400.
The increase is a one-off, so the annual increase of the limit in February 2010 will be suspended until February 2011.
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| | Date Posted: 07/09/2009 | Communication and Consultation
We could not work together without communicating. The exchange of information and instructions enable us to do our jobs efficiently. Most of us go a step further than this and discuss issues of mutual concern through consultation.
We can tell you what kind of information you need to communicate and the best ways of communicating. We can also set out the legal aspects of consultation and how to set up systems for effective consultation.
Proposed Redundancies
What information must an employer disclose about proposed redundancies?
To ensure employee representatives can play a useful part in the consultation process over proposed redundancies the employer must disclose certain information in writing including:
1. reasons for the proposed redundancies
2. numbers and descriptions of employees affected
3. proposed method of selecting the employees who may be dismissed
4. proposed method of carrying out the dismissals, taking account of any agreed procedure, including the period over which the dismissals are to take effect
5. how redundancy payments, other than the legal minimum, will be calculated.
Consultation is now compulsory!!!
Please contact us for assistance.
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| | Date Posted: 07/09/2009 | Dismissal - Do you have the right date of termination?
Most employers think they are safe to assume that once a letter of dismissal has been sent to an employee, the dismissal will be effective immediately. However, the recent case of Gisda Cyf v Barratt demonstrates that this assumption should not always be made.
The event
Miss Barratt attended a disciplinary meeting, on Tuesday 28th November 2006 and was informed that she must go home, and that she should expect to receive a letter concerning possible dismissal on 30th November 2006. However, Barratt was not at home until Sunday 3rd December.
As Barratt was not at home when the letter was delivered, she did not open it until Monday 4th December, and subsequently brought a claim for unfair dismissal. There was a debate as to whether Miss Barratt had brought her claim within the three month deadline. If her dismissal date had been 30 November, then her claim would have been out of time. However, if her dismissal was not until 4 December, then her claim was within the time limit.
The employment tribunal decided that termination is effected when communicated, therefore when Barratt opened the letter. Gisda argued that Barratt should have found out about the contents of the letter because she knew she would be sent one, but the tribunal found Barratt had not gone away to deliberately avoid the letter, therefore this argument did not stand.
Gisda appealed to the EAT, which agreed with the employment tribunal, saying Barratt was not dismissed until she read the letter. As she did not have a chance to read the letter before the 4th, the unfair dismissal claim was brought within the time limit.
Conclusion
The decision in this case, shows that any ambiguity over the date of the dismissal is risk placed on the employer and knowledge of the dismissal is needed before notice is effective.
Practically, it is always better to communicate summarily dismissal face to face and then follow this up in writing. If this is not possible, make every effort to find out if the letter has been read, otherwise it is likely the dismissal will not be effective until the employee knows it.
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| | Date Posted: 07/09/2009 | Training and Development
In these very difficult economic times, the tendency is to cut training programmes and in some cases your decision to do this may be the best one for your company. We can help you by running effective programmes to maintain your skill data base and enhance your employees' skill sets with 4 hour sessions for your people. All of our programmes can be tailored to meet your needs and in particular we can encourage your people to enhance their productivity and accuracy with our "I am the Difference" programme. Training and developing your people can cost as little as £75 per person per day and for some programmes you can get funding.
Please ring us for more details
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