The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
News On Line
Back to contents
Equal pay protections to be reinstated Published: 4 September 2023 Emailed: 6 September 2023
It has been reported that the government has confirmed it is to reinstate equal pay protection legislation, through secondary legislation later this year. These protections would have been removed under legislation that received Royal Assent in June, to revoke numerous European Union (EU) rules. The UK left the EU as part of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, which gained Royal Assent on 29 June 2023. However, sources state that the safeguards will remain part of UK law, meaning women will still have the right to equal pay as men, if they work for the same source that sets their employment terms and conditions. According to UK equality law, men and women in the same employment performing equal work must receive equal pay, unless any difference can be justified. An EU provision known as the single source test closed this gap, helping lower-paid women take action against their employers over pay.
A source states that, Dr Zara Nanu, chief executive officer at Gapsquare, said:
‘‘While the legislation is still playing catch up, organisations can take a proactive approach on this. From leveraging technology to analyse gaps and root out the core problem, or moving pay analysis into a more regular activity, organisations can do a lo t more to tackle gender pay gaps and go beyond what’s simply legally required.”
Read the full news story, here and here.
HM Revenue and Customs has a ‘ Retained EU law dashboard ’, this dashboard shows a list of retained EU laws (REUL). These are laws that the UK saved to ensure legislative continuity immediately after Brexit.
Back to contents
The automatic-enrolment Bill gains Royal Assent Published: 19 September 2023 Emailed: 20 September 2023
The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) (No. 2) Bill has become an Act of parliament (law) by gaining Royal Assent on 18 September 2023.
The Bill permits two extensions to automatic enrolment – abolishing the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) for contributions and reducing the age for being automatically enrolled to 18 years old. It has been reported that, millions of people, including low earners and younger workers, will be helped to save more into their pension and look after their financial futures.
Baroness Altmann, said:
‘‘This Bill reflects the strong cross -party support in both Houses and continued political consensus on auto-enrolment. In that regard, I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Sherlock and Lady Drake, whose work on the Pensions Commission recommended automatic enrolment, and the noble Lords, Lord Davies and Lord Palmer, for their speeches supporting the Bill, which paves the way for half a million younger people and at least 2.5 million older workers to build bigger pensions, particularly for the low paid. I look forward to the promised early consultation to confirm the details and timing of the regulations, which will see the provisions of the Bill implemented by all employers.’’
Viscount Younger of Leckie, said:
‘‘If the House agrees to final passage today, the Government will look to play their part by consulting on how to implement the expansion of automatic enrolment at the earliest opportunity, which I hope gives some idea of the timescale to the noble Baroness, Lady Sherlock. We hope that it could be later this year. We will then report to Parliament about how we intend to proceed in accordance with the provisions in the Bill.’’
cipp.org.uk
Page 62 of 314
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker