Employment Law...

TIMELINE

-2010

• National minimum wage increase
• Introduction of national minimum wage for apprentices will cover the whole of UK and provide £95 a week.
• Equality Bill

Will consolidate law into one statute and change law around disability, age discrimination, tribunals and gender pay reporting

• Right to request time off to train

Allows employees at larger firms time off to train along lines of flexible working

-2011

• Agency Workers Directive

All temporary workers will get equal rights to permanent staff after 12 weeks

• Dual Discrimination

The law will change to allow employees to make claims on two combined grounds, including age or religion

• National Insurance increase

Employer contributions will increase by a further 0.5%, on top of the 0.5% previously announced.

• Paternity Leave and pay

A shared system of leave will be introduced where if a mother goes back to work, the father can take up to six months off

• European Works Council Directive

All companies with more than 1,000 employees will have to set up a 'works council' - a shop-floor organisation for workers

-2012

• Pensions

Employers will have to set up and enrol staff in a qualifying pension scheme and pay a minimum 3% contribution

-2013

• Gender pay reporting

Firms with more than 250 employees will have to record and publish details of pay gap

Total Cost: £25bn

Interestingly enough these laws are part of what is known as the 'social chapter' of EU legislation. The one area which the Tories have actually "promised" to do anything at all about (scroll down to the bottom). I am quite sure that whatever happens they will do absolutely nothing to claw back power from Brussels in this area.

Addendum:

Please read below and you will find your swathes of knowledge increase like the bellies of the fat cats.

Thatchers government negotiated an opt-out from the Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty, since European employment directives damaged the flexibility of the UK labour market.

After their election victory in May 1997, Labour signed up to the Chapter with a transitional phase before the main laws of worker’s rights are full introduced into Britain.

One change to British law is the Working Hours Directive (first introduced by the EU in 1993). This guarantees workers the right to paid holidays; unpaid maternity and paternity leave; rest-breaks between shifts and a maximum working week of 48 hours.

• But this is the juicy stuff:
• Protection of rights of workers who move within the EU
• Fair pay for employment
• Improvement of conditions of employment (including working hours)
• Social Security provision for low income groups and unemployed
• Freedom of association and right to collective bargaining
• Vocational training
• Equal treatment for men and women
• Health and safety at work
• Employment opportunities for young people, the disabled and people over the age of compulsory retirement.

Now you know.