The excellent employment law website Emplaw informed me that the House of Lords was only around as the final court of appeal for a mere 610 years. Labour’s Constitutional Reform Act 2005 did away with the House of Lords as a Court, with the intent of trying to ensure there was a proper separation of powers between legislature and judiciary. Apparently the last Law Lord to meddle in politics was one William Le Scroope, who was beheaded for his trouble. I don’t suppose there is any chance of a similar fate befalling those politicians who try and interfere in legal matters for a cheap headline: I’m particularly thinking of Harriet Harman who weighed into the dispute over Sir Fred Goodwin’s enormous pension by threatening to “take action”. No such luck I suppose.
As I mentioned in my last post, today sees a raft of new regulations introduced by the government. The policy now is to do this twice yearly, on 1st April and 1st October. Last April saw the repeal of the statutory dispute regulations under the Employment Act 2002 and there was much cheering and rejoicing. This month there is less to get excited about, although the introduction of the new Supreme Court as the final court of appeal in the UK, replacing the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords, is a moment of historic legal importance (see later). Many of the regulations are technical amendments to company or partnership law. The following are, perhaps, the most newsworthy;
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Statutory Redundancy Pay will be increased from £350 per week of complete service to £380 (
see my earlier post).
- The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is increased for those aged 22 or more from £5.73 per hour to £5.80. For 18-21 year olds the increase is £4.77 to £4.83 and for 16-17 year olds it is £3.53 to £3.57. From 1st October 2010 the full adult rate will apply to those aged 21 or more.
- Employers are now banned under the NMW legislation from counting tips towards the NMW.
- The Workplace Parking Levy – this has crept under the radar. The Workplace Parking Levy (England) Regulations 2009 come into force today allowing, from 2011, local authorities to charge employers who provide parking spaces to their employees. Nottingham City Council has announced it will introduce such a scheme but won’t impose the charge until April 2012. The levy will be made on employers who in turn will be able to pass that on to their employees if they wish. Expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth from … everyone in a couple of year’s time. The scheme is introduced in the name of reducing congestion and improving public transport, but they would say that wouldn’t they?
Of more immediate interest is the ongoing talk of restricting bankers’ bonuses. I will be covering that story in a later poat.
If you require any further advice on any of these issues, on redundancy programmes, or any other aspect of employment law, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0207 464 8433 or at michaelscutt@dalelangley.co.uk
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