Keeping up to date
We take seriously our responsibility to keep you up to date so that you can use changes in employment law to commercial advantage. By understanding and interpreting the latest case law and legislation we can deliver updates to you that are concise and usable. With imagination, we are able to ensure that developing law can be used to allow you to achieve commercial solutions, cost effectively and expediently.
Legal lightbulb – people law, policy and practice
As part of keeping you in our focus, our ‘legal lightbulb’ update ensures you’re on top of the latest changes in legislation, case law, and people trends.
Employment tribunal statistics
2022/23 costs and compensation:
- Disability discrimination claims received the largest average award (£45,000) compared to other discrimination claims
- The highest maximum award was £1,770,000 for disability discrimination
- The mean award for unfair dismissal was £12,000 across 790 claims receiving compensation
Auto-enrolment bill receives Royal Assent
The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 gives the Secretary of State the power to make two key changes:
- To reduce the age for being automatically enrolled into a pension scheme (from 22 to 18 years old); and
- Remove the lower earnings limit for contributions meaning auto-enrolment contributions start from the first pound, not just those over £192 per week.
We currently have no set implementation date but will update you when we have more details. Obviously, there is nothing stopping you from adopting the changes before the legislation comes into force.
Data Protection and Digital Information Bill No.2
The government’s aim is to simplify the UK’s data protection framework – in particular, they’re suggesting that record keeping of personal data will only be required where processing results in a high risk to the rights of individuals (the Information Commissioner’s Office will need to publish guidance on what constitutes ‘high risk’).
Employers with less than 250 employees are exempt from record-keeping duties unless their data processing activities carry a high risk to the rights of individuals. The bill is currently working through the House of Commons and is due its third reading stage.
People dates for your diary
21 November – Carers Rights Day | Raising awareness of rights and challenges of unpaid carers
25 November – White Ribbon Day | Preventing violence against women and promoting gender equality
07 December – Christmas Jumper Day | Save the Children’s annual fundraising event
02-08 December – National Grief Awareness Week | Supporting those who may be grieving and create better understanding of the grieving process