Employment Edit: 29 November 2024

Employment Rights Bill news

The Public Bill Committee has started to scrutinise the Employment Rights Bill in public sittings this week. As part of the Committee Stage, the government has tabled several changes to the Bill. Currently, the most significant of these changes is the proposal to amend the time limit for employment tribunal claims from three months to six months. This proposal, which was not included in the original Bill but was referenced in the government’s Next Steps to Make Work Pay policy paper, relates to a wide range of tribunal claims (including claims for unfair dismissal and discrimination) so could have a significant impact, if implemented.

The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) has also recently issued its opinion on the impact assessments that accompany the Employment Rights Bill, assessing several of the impact assessments as ‘not fit for purpose’. You can read the opinion here.

In our employer’s handbook on the Employment Rights Bill and beyond, we explain each of the key proposals (including those in the Bill and outside it) in an easy-to-read format, as well as offering our thoughts on the potential implications for employers

Electronic Travel Authorisation

Important immigration changes are set to come into force early next year, which will impact on all non-visa nationals visiting the UK for work or leisure. A non-visa national is anyone who is not a UK or Irish national and who, due to their nationality, does not require a visa to visit or transit through the UK. This will include US, Australian, Canadian and European nationals, amongst others. These individuals have previously not had to do anything in advance of travelling to or through the UK. The changes are:

• From 8 January 2025, all non-visa nationals other than European nationals will need to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before visiting or transiting through the UK.
• From 2 April 2025, this requirement will be extended to apply to European non-visa nationals.

When applying for an ETA, applicants will be required to provide their biometric, biographic and contact details and answer a short series of suitability questions. Once issued, the ETA will be valid for two years and the usual visitor rules will continue to apply to the individual who has been granted an ETA (meaning that they are not permitted to carry out work, other than certain specific permitted activities).

The changes will impact non-visa nationals who make use of the visitor route to travel to or through the UK. Affected individuals and their employers will need to allow sufficient time to obtain an ETA before travelling. Applications for those affected by the 8 January 2025 change open today (28 November 2024). Currently, an ETA costs £10 and applications typically take up to 3 days to process but it is unclear whether applications will take longer once a greater number of applications are made.

Statutory payment increases

Last week, the Department for Work & Pensions announced increased rates of statutory sick pay and statutory pay for various types of family-related leave which it intends to implement from April 2025. Once approved, the new rates will be:

• Statutory sick pay – £118.75 per week; and
• Statutory maternity, adoption, shared parental and paternity pay – £187.18 per week. The same rate of pay will apply to statutory parental bereavement pay.

Protected conversations

The EAT has concluded that an employer’s conduct during pre-termination settlement discussions was not improper and therefore the discussions were inadmissible in evidence.

Having successfully managed to cover the claimant’s duties during a period of sickness absence, the respondent considered that there was no longer a need for the claimant’s role. The claimant attended a meeting to discuss his return to work and during that meeting the respondent set out a proposed settlement offer. The respondent explained that, if the claimant rejected the offer, it would go through a redundancy procedure. The claimant sought to rely on these discussions as part of an unfair dismissal claim, alleging that the discussions were not pre-termination negotiations (often known as protected conversations) as the respondent had put undue pressure on him to accept the offer and this was improper behaviour.

The EAT upheld the employment tribunal’s finding that the respondent did not put undue pressure on the claimant. It was open to the tribunal to conclude that the short deadline for verbal acceptance (48 hours) did not amount to undue pressure in the circumstances. It also noted that telling the claimant that the redundancy process would begin if he did not accept the offer was not undue pressure – the respondent said nothing to the claimant to indicate that this would necessarily mean he would be dismissed. Setting up the meeting as a return to work meeting and instead discussing settlement was also not undue pressure in the circumstances. Having reached those conclusions, the EAT upheld the finding that the pre-termination negotiations were inadmissible in tribunal. The case confirms that what might amount to improper conduct will depend on the facts and circumstances as a whole. The starting point for any employer entering into settlement discussions should be the Acas Code of Practice and guidance on settlement agreements, which the tribunal took into account in this case.

(Gallagher v McKinnon Auto and Tyres Ltd)

Employment, health and skills support

Earlier this week, the government issued a ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper setting out proposals to tackle what it describes as ‘spiralling economic inactivity’. The paper sets out a range of different measures which include the aim to provide support for people to get back into work, help for those with health conditions to stay in employment and support enabling employers to recruit, retain and develop staff. One of the key proposals is the creation of a new jobs and careers service to help people get into work and get on at work.