The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy Bi-Monthly Newsletter – September 2016
Transfer of Undertakings TUPE can attract a bad press, but the principle that employees should transfer when a business changes hands or is contracted out is often useful for business and is incorporated and priced into many commercial outsourcing agreements. For this reason, although there may be some businesses that would like to get rid of TUPE, it seems more likely that the government would make some small changes to make it more business friendly, such as permitting the harmonisation of terms following a TUPE transfer. Holidays and working time The right to statutory paid holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) is also now broadly accepted. However, there are aspects of this right, and of other rights under the WTR, that the government might want to amend if not prevented from doing so by membership of the EU. Various European Court of Justice (ECJ) decisions on holiday pay are unpopular with UK businesses - for example, the right to keep accruing holiday while on sick leave and the fact that holiday pay should be based on all aspects of remuneration, not just basic pay. The government might choose to tweak these laws to make them more commercially acceptable, such as by retaining a right to paid holiday based on basic pay whilst limiting rights to accrue and carry over holiday pay. The UK may also wish to remove the cap on weekly working hours under the WTR. It is less clear that there is a demand to limit the WTR rights to other rest breaks or the protections for night workers. Collective redundancy consultation Collective redundancy consultation obligations were reduced by the last government. The requirement is now not particularly onerous and it is not clear what might happen to it following a Brexit. Trade unions are likely to fight against any proposal to remove it altogether but employees arguably do not feel strongly about this right (and many do not know about it). On the other hand, it is not obvious that businesses regard it as a burden that should be removed. Similarly, other collective consultation rights such as national and transnational works councils are possible candidates for repeal but the obligations imposed by them on UK businesses are relatively light. Legal precedent If we retain some EU law following Brexit, the UK courts are likely to continue to regard judgments of the ECJ on those laws as persuasive, even if not binding. In any event, pre-Brexit UK court decisions incorporating ECJ reasoning would remain binding on lower courts and tribunals. It is not clear how far UK courts would be able to treat exit from the EU as a material circumstance that would allow them to depart from precedent. They might do so, but could feel obliged to follow precedent in order to preserve legal certainty.
In conclusion, it seems unlikely that UK employment law will be transformed in significant ways, particularly in the short term.
Universal Credit and employers 18 August 2016
What are the benefits of Universal Credit for employers?
The Department for Work and Pensions has developed a comprehensive set of FAQs compiled from questions asked by national employers and SMEs at Universal Credit events around the country.
And questions such as, What are the benefits of Universal Credit for employers? are included. The answer being: Claimants can be flexible about working more hours or ad hoc additional hours because Universal Credit has no restrictions on the number of hours worked. It is designed so that it automatically responds to fluctuations in earnings, and allows claimants to keep receiving Universal Credit, making work pay. How does Universal Credit work with benefits in kind? An example of another question listed, with the response: Universal Credit will not initially take ‘benefits in kind’ (employee benefits that do not take the form of money) into account. However they are considering the best solution to reflect benefits in kind in the future, to ensure that the level of earnings taken into account fairly reflects the income and choices available to the household.
Read the full set of Universal Credit and employers: frequently asked questions .
Find out how Universal Credit can help your business - information for employers about Universal Credit (part of the Universal Credit toolkit ).
cipp.org.uk
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