Here is a brief reminder of the employment law changes that have come in to force this month.
From 1 May 2014, the time period by which transferors must provide employee liability information to transferees, where there is a TUPE transfer, increases from 14 days to 28 days prior to the transfer. This change only applies to TUPE transfers which take place on or after 1 May 2014.
As of 6 May 2014, it is now mandatory for a claimant to notify ACAS of their claim and present an early conciliation form prior to presenting an employment tribunal claim form. On receipt of the early conciliation form the ACAS conciliation officer must endeavour to promote settlement between the parties. The period for early conciliation is one calendar month from receipt of the early conciliation form and the claimant cannot present an employment tribunal claim until an early conciliation certificate has been issued by ACAS. The employment tribunal claim forms now require the early conciliation certificate number before the form can be submitted to the employment tribunal. If the early conciliation certificate number is not provided then the tribunal will reject the claim. For more information on the pre-claim conciliation process.
In addition, employers should also be aware of a change to the right to recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the government. Previously, employers could reclaim SSP if the amount they paid exceeded 13% of their national insurance contributions in each month. From 6 April 2014, employers are no longer able to recover SSP from the government. The money saved is intended to help fund the new Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service which aims to help employers get employees on long term sickness back to work by offering occupational health, medical assessments and treatment plans to help facilitate an employee’s return to work. This new service is not anticipated until spring 2015.
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