We round up the latest employment news.
National Minimum Wage consultation
The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has started a consultation process to gather information that will assist in its suggestions for the 2025 national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW) rates. The LPC's calculations suggest that the wage rate necessary to fulfil the government's mandate falls between £11.61 and £12.18 to meet the government's target.
Feedback for the consultation can be sent via email to: lpc@lowpay.gov.uk
You can access the consultation here.
EHRC updates its discrimination toolkits
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has released revised guidelines on preventing workplace discrimination against pregnant women and those on maternity leave. It has updated various toolkits to reflect changes that took effect in April 2024.
The toolkits now include advice on:
- Broadening the scope of redundancy protection to cover pregnant women, those on maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave and for a period after they return to work.
- Prioritising offering suitable alternative roles to pregnant women and those on maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave if they are provisionally selected for redundancy.
- The right for employees to request flexible working arrangements from the first day of employment.
- Changes to the rules about statutory paternity leave. However, although the toolkits accurately refer to the fact that parents can now take two weeks statutory leave at different times, they have 52 weeks to take it. The updated guidance still refers to 56 days which is incorrect.
Updated toolkits can be accessed using links below:
Pregnancy and maternity: Pregnancy toolkit
Pregnancy, adoption and maternity: Return to work toolkit
Maternity, paternity, adoption or shared parental leave and pay toolkit
Increase in economic inactivity and decrease in job vacancies
The UK's economic inactivity rate for individuals aged 16 to 64 has risen according to the latest report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This increase is primarily driven by students and retirees.
The numbers of job vacancies has also continued to decrease for the 20th quarter in a row. In the period from December 2023 to February 2024, there were 4.5% fewer vacancies than in the previous quarter with arts, entertainment and recreation contracting the most, falling by 19.8%. One in 5 people apply for every vacancy.
This is the longest sequence of quarterly falls since the data series began in 2001, and has seen the total number of vacancies decline by an estimated 391,000 since April to June 2022. However, job vacancies are still higher than those seen before the pandemic.
New disability employment guide
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has introduced a new guide designed help managers hire, maintain, and promote the career growth of employees who have disabilities or chronic health conditions. It was developed with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and forms part of the government’s Back to Work Plan.
The guide:
- Offers advice on recruitment, management, and development of employees with disabilities or health conditions.
- Covers a number of health conditions including long-Covid, neurodiversity, mental health, learning difficulties and sensory impairments.
- Explains how employers can gain 'disability confident' status by adhering to a set of inclusion criteria.
- Explains how managers can make and review reasonable adjustments and consider flexible working.
- Contains details about the legal obligations of managers to assist employees with disabilities or chronic health conditions in the workplace.
- Provides guidance on the appropriate terminology to use when referring to or communicating with individuals with disabilities.
Gender pay gap narrows (a bit)
The gender pay gap in Great Britain has reached its lowest level since mandatory reporting began in 2017. 10,380 companies filed their data before deadline on 5 April. Although it reveals that the median pay gap has slightly decreased to 9.1% in 2023-2024, nearly 80% of employers continue to pay men, on average, more than they pay women. The construction (22.8%), finance and insurance (21.5%), and education (20%) registered the biggest median pay gaps, according to analysis of the sectors reported by each body.
The public sector still has a higher gender pay gap than the private sector.
Government intends to crackdown on misuse of NDAs
The UK government has recently announced that it intends to restrict the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to ensure that victims are not barred from seeking support or legal advice.
The proposed changes will make it clear that NDAs cannot legally prevent victims from reporting crimes or seeking necessary support. Victims will be able to discuss information relating to criminal conduct with the police, qualified lawyers, and other support services without fear of legal retaliation. These safeguards are already included in settlement agreements drafted by solicitors.
The government's initiative builds on the recent campaign to raise awareness of the Victims' Code and the commitment to bolster support services for victims of sexual violence and abuse.
Holiday entitlement and pay guidance updated
On 1 April 2024, the Department for Business and Trade released a revised edition of its guidance on the calculation of holiday entitlements and holiday pay. The updated guidance makes a number of changes to the original, including clarifying that term-time workers engaged under contracts which pay them a fixed amount each month may meet the definition of a 'part-year worker' and referring to when annual bonuses may need to be included in holiday pay.
The updated guidance can be accessed here.
Ministerial review on domestic abuse leave
The Department for Business and Trade has released a statement by Minister Kevin Hollinrake regarding its review into whether to legislate to introduce statutory leave for domestic abuse victims. It states that it is “not the right time” to introduce specific proposals, leaving it up to employers to decide how to support staff experiencing domestic abuse.
The minister highlighted existing entitlements employees can use such as annual leave, emergency time off for dependents and statutory sick pay.
The full ministerial statement can be read here.
ICO updates guidance on special category data
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has updated its guidance on inferred special category data for data processing and protection purposes. It explains what is meant by ‘inferred special category data’ by reference to some helpful examples which are easier to understand. For example, a statement that Mr X is married to Mr Y clearly reveals information about Mr X and Mr Y’s sexual orientation.
The new guidance can be found in the 'What is special category data?' section, specifically under the heading 'What about inferences?'
Statutory sick pay reforms
A recent report released by the Work and Pensions Committee argues that SSP should be increased to the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay. It believes that this adjustment:
- Would strike a fair balance between offering additional financial aid and avoiding undue financial burden on businesses; and
- Help support those most in need when they become ill.
It also says that SSP should be available to all employees, not just those who earn above the lower earnings limit and also calls for a new contributory sick pay scheme for self-employed individuals.
AI impact on UK jobs
The UK faces a potential upheaval in its labour market due to the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI). The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has released a report, which outlines the possible scenarios that could unfold as AI becomes more integrated into business processes.
The IPPR's analysis presents three scenarios based on different policy approaches:
- In the worst case, 7.9 million jobs could be lost without any GDP gains
- A more balanced outcome with the loss of 4.4 million jobs but an economic gain of 6.3% of GDP (£144 billion per year)
- The best case scenario where jobs are augmented by AI, leading to no job losses and a 13% boost to GDP (£306 billion per year)
The report highlights that back office, entry-level, and part-time jobs are most at risk, with women being disproportionately affected.
The IPPR warns that without proactive government intervention, the worst-case scenario could become a reality, urging immediate action to steer the country towards a future where AI enhances rather than replaces human work.
Read more – March 2024
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