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Employment Legislation
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The Employment Act 2002
The largest piece of employment
legislation ever produced in one government bill became law on 6th April
2003. The Act covers: working parents, dispute
resolution, employment tribunal procedures, equal pay, fixed-term workers, data
sharing and more. Outlined below are some of the main provisions.
Have your HR procedures been amended to incorporate these changes? If not,
contact us for assistance.
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Fixed-Term Contracts
These provisions apply from 1st October
2002:
Fixed-term
employees should not be treated less favourably than similar permanent staff,
unless this is objectively justified;
The
use of successive fixed-term contracts is limited to four years, unless it can
be justified on objective grounds.
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Flexible Working
From 6th April 2003 parents of children under six or of disabled children
under 18 have the right to apply to work flexibly.
- Mothers and fathers have the right to apply
to work flexibly if they have 26 weeks' service, have responsibility for the
child's upbringing and have not made a similar application during the past 12
months.
- Employers can refuse requests where they have a clear business
reason.
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Maternity, Paternity and Parental
Provision
The measures include:
Maternity Leave and
Pay (from 6th April 2003)
- All pregnant employees are entitled to 26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave;
- Employees with 26 weeks' service by the 14th week before the baby is due are
entitled to a further 26 weeks' additional maternity leave (i.e. up to a total
of 52 weeks);
- Pregnant employees with 26 weeks' service ending with the 15th week before
the baby is due will receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). SMP is 90%
of salary for six weeks, followed by £100 (or 90% of weekly earnings if this
is less than £100) for the remaining 20 weeks.
Paternity Leave and Pay (from 6th April 2003)
- The father, or mother's partner, is entitled to take either one week or
two consecutive weeks' paternity leave if he has worked for 26 weeks ending
with the fifteenth week before the baby is due;
- Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is paid for either one or two consecutive
weeks at the same rate as SMP (see above).
Parental Leave (from 15th December 1999)
- Both mothers and fathers, whether they are natural or adoptive parents, with
at least one year's service may request up to 13 weeks' unpaid parental leave;
- Leave may be taken in blocks of one week or more, up to a maximum of four
weeks in a year for each child, until the child's fifth birthday;
- If the organisation considers that the employee's absence would cause undue
disruption it can postpone leave for up to six months (except when leave is
taken immediately after the birth or adoption of a child).
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Disputes Resolution (from April 2004)
The Act:
introduces minimum internal disciplinary and
grievance procedures;
- encourage employees to raise grievances with their employer before applying
to an employment tribunal;
- allows variation of tribunal awards to encourage use of these procedures.
Planning
Employers should have adapted their
HR policies and procedures accordingly. RAB Personnel Management will be pleased to assist in this process.
We endeavour to ensure that the
information in this web site is accurate at the time of publication,
but RAB Personnel Management Services accepts no liability for error
or omission.
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Return to Top
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