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HR & EMPLOYMENT LAW Jackie Le Poidevin, Editor-in-Chief, HR Adviser |
General Election: Discover the Future of the Government’s Employment Law Reforms
Parliament was dissolved on Friday 24 May, just 2 days after the Prime Minister announced a General Election. A few employment bills were rushed through during the so-called ‘wash-up’ period before the dissolution but it’s unclear what will happen to the Government’s remaining proposed legislative changes. Here, we look at the status of the Government’s pending employment law reforms.
What’s Passed?
- The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Bill, a private member’s bill brought by Labour that had cross-party support, passed into law during the wash-up. If a baby’s mother dies, this disapplies the requirement for the father or partner to have worked for their employer for 26 weeks before he can take paternity leave. It also enables regulations to be made which may extend paternity leave to 52 weeks in this situation. However, we don’t know when the Act will come into force and we can’t be sure what any future regulations will say.
- The statutory Code of Practice on ‘fire and rehire’ has been approved and comes into force on 18 July. However, the fate of the draft Order empowering employment tribunals to increase compensation by up to 25% when the code has been breached isn’t clear. Labour intends to outlaw fire and rehire, so if it wins, it may introduce tougher proposals.
- The statutory Code of Practice on distributing tips fairly was passed during the wash-up. It therefore seems likely that the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and the Code will come into force on 1 October as planned.
- The Victims and Prisoners Bill was passed. This is a wide-ranging piece of legislation but one provision clarifies that non-disclosure agreements can’t be legally enforced if they prevent victims from reporting a crime.
What’s Pending?
The following reforms were due to come into effect later this year or in 2025 or were still at the proposal stage when Parliament was dissolved:
- The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act received Royal Assent in May 2023 and was expected to come into force no earlier than April 2025. Details of the right first had to be set out in separate regulations, which will now be a job for the next Government.
- The Government intended to bring the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 into force in September. Again, separate regulations are needed before it can be implemented and there were plans for a Code of Practice. Labour has proposed stronger rights for people working unpredictable shifts so it may scrap or update the legislation.
- The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 will come into force from 26 October 2024. This introduces a new proactive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. However, Labour has said it wants to reintroduce the provisions making employers liable for third-party harassment if it’s elected, so further legislation may be in the offing.
- A week before its General Election announcement, the Government opened a consultation on further changes to TUPE. We looked at this in the last bulletin. You can still respond to the consultation but whether the proposals will be taken forward is a decision for the next Government.
- Last May, the Government said it intended to legislate to limit post-termination non-compete clauses to 3 months. This may now not be progressed.
- The Government was considering reintroducing employment tribunal fees. It seems doubtful a Labour Government would go ahead with this.
- The Government was planning reforms to fit notes. However, Labour is planning to overhaul sick pay, so we may see much wider changes.
- Progress on the Government’s plans to create a single enforcement body for employment rights seems to have stalled. However, Labour has said it will create such a body if elected.
- The Government has been consulting on allowing agency workers to cover strikes. However, Labour has committed to strengthening trade union rights, including undoing recent laws on minimum service levels during strike action.
We’ll look in more detail at Labour’s employment law proposals, set out in its ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’, in the next bulletin.
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HEALTH & SAFETY Emma Lampka, Editorial Board Member, Health & Safety Adviser and Risk Assessment & Compliance |
Working at Height and Overhead Cranes: HSE Prosecutes Two Companies for Failure to Assess Risk
Two companies have been fined after a worker fell from a scissor lift and fractured his skull, leaving him in an induced coma. The electrician, employed by Optilight Electrical Services Ltd, had been repairing light fittings at Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd’s site when he fell from a scissor lift and landed on the factory floor. The HSE found that proper risk assessment procedures had not been implemented and a lack of communication between the companies was responsible for the incident. We examine the case and look at how to prevent incidents with the 4 Cs approach.
Where Did it All go Wrong?
The 52-year-old electrician, from Sheffield, was in the cage of a raised scissor lift approximately 35ft high when a worker at Expert Tooling began to operate a nearby overhead crane. He did not notice the electrician in the scissor lift. The crane then collided with the scissor lift, causing it to twist and hit nearby racking before landing on the factory floor. The electrician came out of the cage while it was falling, hitting his head on the floor and sustaining serious injuries.
The HSE inspection found that this was a disastrous consequence of both companies working on the assumption that the other had taken responsibility for safe working practices. Optilight Electrical had not identified overhead cranes as a risk to its employees at the site and Expert Tooling did not put procedures in place to stop the use of overhead cranes whilst work at height was taking place. This means risk arose and an incident occurred due to lack of basic communication.
Effective control of contractors and risk assessment is key to the prevention of these types of accidents happening within your organisation. You should always follow the 4 Cs to ensure workplace safety.
Apply the 4 Cs: Control, Communication, Co-operation & Competence
1. Control: there are 3 key aspects to establishing control over safety in the workplace
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- Take overall responsibility. By taking responsibility you will ensure that incidents, such as the one above, do not happen in your workplace. Never assume that the contractor or other parties involved have taken control of the work and work activities. Demonstrate your commitment by taking responsibility from the outset.
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- Allocate specific responsibilities. Be clear when allocating responsibilities so that everyone understands their health and safety responsibilities and how to carry out the work safely.
- Enforce Compliance. Ensure that everyone at work, from employees to contractors and visitors are held accountable for their actions. This can be achieved primarily through supervision and the level of supervision will be reflected in the level of risk involved in the work being carried out. Ensure they are also aware that there is some form of penalty if they fail to comply.
2. Communication: good communication within the organisation and with our contractors and visitors is vital to help secure and maintain a safe workplace. Strong lines of communication ensure that everyone is clear about their responsibilities. You should demonstrate the organisation’s safety policy and how it can be applied practically, how people should work safely and where people can get further information if required.
3. Co-Operation: all employees, contractors and visitors have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do at work. In addition, they also have a legal duty to co-operate with their employers, to enable them to comply with their health and safety responsibilities. Ensure that your employees, contractors and visitors are aware of their legal duties from the outset of the work. Good co-operation between workers, contractors and visitors ensures a safe workplace for everyone.
4. Competence: you should ensure that, not only your own workers are competent to undertake the role they are employed for, but also check the competence of the workers of contracting companies. Never assume that, because they are a specialist contractor, that all their employees have the right training to undertake their work safely. Always check competency as a part of your tender process or induction process.
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PAYROLL Sarah Bradford, Editor-in-Chief, Pay & Benefits Adviser |
New: Advisory Fuel Rates Applying from 1 June 2024
HMRC have published details of the advisory fuel rates applying from 1 June 2024. These are fuel-only rates which can be used to pay mileage allowances to company car drivers without an associated tax liability. The rates are updated quarterly. Of particular note, is the reduction is the electric rate from 9 pence per mile to 8 pence per mile. The rates are not relevant where employees use their own cars for business travel. Here, we look at the current rates, how to reimburse employees and repay private travel.
Current Rates
The rates applying from 1 June 2024 are shown below:
| Engine size | Petrol (rate per mile) | LPG (rate per mile) |
| 1400cc or less | 14 pence | 11 pence |
| 1401cc to 2000cc | 16 pence | 13 pence |
| Over 2000cc | 26 pence | 21 pence |
| Engine size | Diesel (rate per mile) |
| 1600cc or less | 13 pence |
| 1601cc to 2000cc | 15 pence |
| Over 2000cc | 20 pence |
| Electric (rate per mile) |
| 8 pence |
Reimbursing Employees for Business Travel
Where an employee has a company car which they use for business travel and they pay for the fuel in the first instance, the advisory fuel rates can be used as the basis for reimbursing the cost of fuel used for business travel. As long as the mileage rate that you pay is not higher than the prevailing advisory fuel rate for the car’s engine size and fuel type, HMRC accept that there is no taxable profit. Consequently, there is no tax and National Insurance to pay. If you use the advisory fuel rates, you do not need to provide evidence of the actual fuel costs incurred. However, employees should keep a record of their business mileage.
Use of the advisory fuel rate is not compulsory, and you can set your own rates. However, where the amounts paid exceed the advisory rate, unless you are able to demonstrate to HMRC that the actual costs are higher than the advisory rates, the amounts paid in excess of the advisory rates are treated as a taxable profit on which the employee is taxed. You will also be liable for Class 1A National Insurance on the profit element.
Repaying the Cost of Fuel Used for Private Travel
Where you pay for the fuel used by an employee for private travel in a company car, unless the car is an electric car, the provision of the fuel constitutes a taxable benefit. The amount on which the employee must pay tax is found by multiplying the appropriate percentage used to determine the car benefit charge for the year by the multiplier for the tax year. For 2024/25 this is set at £27,800.
As a fuel benefit charge can be significant, the `benefit’ of free fuel may not be worthwhile unless the employee’s private mileage is high. However, the employee can avoid the fuel benefit charge by reimbursing the cost of all fuel for private journeys. This can be done using the advisory fuel rates. It is important that all private mileage is repaid as partial reimbursement will not cancel the charge. However, to be effective, this must be done by 6 July after the end of the tax year.
Electric Cars
Although HMRC do not regard electricity as a fuel for the purposes of the fuel benefit charge, they set an advisory fuel rate which means you can pay a tax-free mileage allowance to employees with an electric company car that they use for business travel.
On the flip side, if you pay for electricity for all journeys there is no need, from a tax perspective, for the employee to pay back the cost of electricity for private travel as there is no fuel benefit charge for electric cars.