We round up the latest employment news.
Benefits rates to be increased in April 2024
According to proposals set out in a Department for Work and Pensions policy paper, the rates for Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Maternity Allowance will all increase from £172.48 to £184.03 per week. The rate for Statutory Sick Pay will increase from £109.40 to £116.75 per week.
These rate rises represent an increase by 6.7% in line with CPI for the year to September 2023.
TUC publishes latest data on disability pay gap
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has published new analysis of the pay gap between non-disabled and disabled workers. It found that the pay gap is currently higher than it was 10 years ago, with non-disabled workers earning approximately 14.6% more than disabled workers.
One-in-seven HR heads think men are better suited to top jobs
A poll conducted by the Young Women’s Trust revealed that 15% of human resources executives in England and Wales believe men are better suited to senior management positions than women. The survey also found that 19% of HR heads would be reluctant to hire a woman who they thought might go on to start a family.
The study also asked over 4,000 18-30 year old women about their workplace concerns, and found that:
- Young women are paid, on average, a fifth less than young men
- Only 59% felt they were confident they can achieve their career goals compared to 68% of young men
- 50% have experienced discrimination at work (risen from 42% the previous year).
ONS publishes data on ethnicity pay gap
The Office for National Statistics has published a new report on ethnicity pay gaps in the UK for 2022. The main factors that explain most differences between the groups were: occupation, highest qualification level, geography, age and sex. The main findings from the report were:
- Between 2012 and 2022, Black, African, Caribbean or Black British employees were the only ethnicity group to be consistently earning less than White employees.
- Black, African, Caribbean or Black British employees earned less (£13.53) median gross hourly pay than White employees (£14.35) between 2012 and 2022.
Annual migration report
The Migration Advisory Committee has published its annual report which provides an overview of UK migration. It highlights that the health and social care sector heavily relies on the immigration system by using health and care worker visas. It says that this is ‘in part but not exclusively due to the government’s reluctance to provide adequate funding to tackle the underlying workforce pressures.’
The report also details the rise in student visa numbers which is the biggest contributing factor in the net migration increase.
Religious discrimination commonplace
Discrimination against religious employees is common in many workplaces, according to new research into religion at work which examined the experiences of 6,315 workers in the UK and the US.
The Religion at Work report found that:
- 47% of respondents did not feel comfortable discussing the religious festivals they celebrate with colleagues
- 64% of employees who wore religious dress or symbols were not comfortable wearing them in the workplace
- 19% said their employers had rejected requests to take time off to celebrate religious holidays
- 32% had a negative experience after expressing their religious identity at work including being mocked, excluded and stereotyped.
Government publishes Code of Practice for trade unions on minimum service levels
Where Minimum Service Levels regulations are in place and strike action is called, employers can issue work notices to identify people who are reasonably required to work to ensure minimum service levels, set out in the regulations, are met. The Code, published by the Department for Business and Trade, sets out the reasonable steps trade unions should take to ensure their members comply with work notices and help ensure minimum service levels are met.
Employment tribunal cases fall to pre-pandemic levels
New Ministry of Justice data reveals a decrease in single tribunal claims compared to the same period last year. They have now returned to pre-pandemic levels.
New ICO’s consultation on employment guidance
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently announced that it is developing an online resource to help employers understand the legal requirements they have to meet to comply with data protection laws. As part of this process, the ICO has released draft guidance on “Keeping employment records” and “Recruitment and selection” for consultation. Both drafts include practical tools like checklists to support employers.
Consultations are open until Tuesday 5 March 2024 and can be found on the ICO website here and here.
Public sector equality duty guidance updated
The government has recently updated its statutory guidance in respect of the Public Sector Equality Duty to make it clear that organisations need to ensure that they accurately reflect the nine protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, in particular the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. It explains that organisations ‘should not use concepts such as gender or gender identity, which are not encoded in the Act and can be understood in different ways.’
In a letter which accompanies the updated guidance, Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch, has also made it clear that there is no ‘hierarchy of rights’ and that all nine characteristics are equally important when public authorities consider how to remove or minimise disadvantage by those with protected characteristics.
Government publishes response to occupational health consultation
The Department for Work and Pensions has published its response to the consultation it held on increasing employer use of occupational health services entitled ‘Occupational Health: Working Better.’ It has decided to introduce a voluntary minimum framework for quality occupational health provision and explore new voluntary workplace health and disability standards.
The government also says that it is continuing to explore the case for providing further support to employers through the tax system and will respond to the consultation Tax Incentives for Occupational Health ‘in due course.’
Read more – December 2023
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