Employment

Government launches review of whistleblowing framework

Department for Business and Trade says review will gather evidence on the effectiveness of the current regime that will inform policy choices going forward

National living wage and national minimum wage rates from April 2023

New statutory instrument

Round-up of recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case law

Round-up of recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case law

Increase of limits applying to certain awards of employment tribunals and other sums payable under employment legislation

New legislation issued in Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Neither HM Treasury or HMRC have a good enough understanding of the impacts of the almost £100 billion spent on Covid-19 employment support schemes

Public Accounts Committee report on CJRS and SEISS also highlights that gaps and lags in data contributed to the schemes providing excessive support to some, while excluding others that were in need

Government confirms appointment of first Menopause Employment Champion to ‘encourage employers to develop menopause policies’

However, announcement comes days after Equalities Minister confirmed that there are no plans to explore whether existing protection from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 is effective in relation to menopause

Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is a ‘huge step backwards’ for tackling racism at work

TUC, Equality Trust, JCWI and Runnymede Trust warn that, if enacted, Bill will disproportionately affect BME workers who are significantly overrepresented in health and transport sectors

Uprating of minimum agricultural wage rates in Wales for 2023/2024

New statutory instrument revokes and replaces previous Agricultural Wages (Wales) Order

Joint Committee on Human Rights finds that government’s Strikes Bill fails to meet human rights obligations

Committee Chair also warns that draft provisions in the Bill, that include new powers to make it easier to sack striking workers and leave unions at risk of million-pound fines, are unclear and provide inadequate protection against arbitrary use

Round-up of recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case law

Three-quarters of parents who pay for childcare say that it no longer makes financial sense for them to work

New survey of almost 25,000 parents also finds that more than one in ten have childcare costs that are the same as or more than their daily take-home pay

More than two million women in the UK earn below the real living wage

New Living Wage Foundation research also finds that 13 per cent of women are currently working on a zero-hours contract, compared to 9 per cent of men

Labour government would introduce requirement on large employers to have action plan in place to support women experiencing menopause

'Skyrocketing' number of women leaving the workplace due to menopausal symptoms is 'bad for women, bad for business and bad for our economy', says party’s deputy leader

Round-up of recent Employment Appeal Tribunal case law

Working Families calls for clarity on whether employment rights of working parents and carers will be maintained if Bill revoking retained EU law is enacted

Revoking existing rights would have a 'devastating impact on the most marginalised workers', says Chief Executive

Regulatory Policy Committee finds that impact assessment for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is ‘not fit for purpose’

Ministers 'must come clean about the true nature of this nasty Bill' says TUC following 'red-rating' of impact assessment by independent watchdog