April 2011
Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increase
3 April 2011

The standard rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increases from £124.88 to £128.73. Information on the new rates (PDF format, 232K) can be viewed on the Department for Work and Pensions website.

Additional paternity leave and pay comes into force
3 April 2011

Employees who are fathers, or spouses or partners of mothers, and employees who have been matched for adoption and are spouses or partners of the person taking adoption leave are entitled to take additional paternity leave of up to 26 weeks in the first year of their child’s life or the first year after the child’s placement for adoption, and may be entitled to additional paternity pay. Additional paternity leave has effect in relation to children whose expected week of birth is on or after 3 April 2011, or who are matched for adoption with a person who is notified of the match or on after 3 April 2011.

Single equality duty introduced
6 April 2011

The Equality Act 2010 replaces the current public sector duties to promote equality with a single equality duty extending to other protected characteristics. This will oblige public authorities to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other prohibited conduct when exercising their functions. The Equality Act 2010 can be viewed on the OPSI website.

Increase in personal allowance and national insurance contributions for employees
6 April 2011

The primary employee threshold for national insurance contributions increases by £570. National insurance contributions increase by 1% for employees. The personal allowance for income tax for basic rate tax payers under the age of 65 is increased by £1,000. The Coalition: our programme for government (PDF format, 475K) (on the Cabinet Office website) sets outs the Government's five-year plan.

Increase in national insurance thresholds and contributions for employers
6 April 2011

Employers' national insurance thresholds increase by £21 per week above indexation. Employers' national insurance contributions increase by 1%. The Coalition: our programme for government (PDF format, 475K) (on the Cabinet Office website) sets outs the Government's five-year plan.

Right to make a request in relation to study or training for organisations with fewer than 250 employees
6 April 2011

The Apprenticeships, Children and Learning Act 2009 (on the OPSI website) introduces a statutory right to make a request in relation to study or training for employees in organisations with fewer than 250 employees. Employers will be obliged to consider seriously requests that they receive, but will be able to refuse a request where there is a good business reason for doing so. The right to make a request in relation to study or training was introduced for employees in organisations with 250 or more employees on 6 April 2010. The Order which brings this provision into force can be viewed on the OPSI website.

Default retirement age abolished
6 April 2011

Employers are prohibited from issuing new notifications of retirement using the default retirement age. An employer that issues a notification of retirement before 6 April 2011 will be able to retire the employee if his or her retirement date is before 1 October 2011. An employer cannot prescribe a compulsory retirement age, unless it can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Right to request flexible working extended to parents of children under 18
6 April 2011

The Government grants parents of children under 18 the right to request flexible working. This extends the right to request to work flexibly already conferred to parents of children under the age of 17, or under the age of 18 if the child is disabled, and to employees who care for adults aged 18 or over. The Regulations extending the right to request to work flexibly are available on the UK legislation website.

Statutory sick pay increase
6 April 2011

The standard rate of statutory sick pay increases from £79.15 to £81.60 per week. Information on the new rates (PDF format, 232K) can be viewed on the Department for Work and Pensions website.

Positive action provisions of the Equality Act come into force 
6 April 2011

Section 159 of the Equality Act 2010, which permits employers to treat individuals with a protected characteristic more favourably than others in connection with recruitment or promotion, comes into force. This applies only to candidates of equal merit and the more favourable treatment must enable or encourage an individual to overcome or minimise a disadvantage or participate in an activity where he or she is under-represented in that activity. Read the Equality Act 2010and order bringing the section into force on the UK legislation website.

Basic pension uprated
April 2011

Increases to the state pension and benefit payments are based on the consumer prices index.

Annual limit on economic migration to the UK comes into force
April 2011

The number of people permitted to enter the UK from outside the EU is limited to 20,700 per annum under the skilled worker route (except for those earning a salary of more than £150,000 or in-country applications from those in the UK), and 1,000 per annum under the new exceptional talent route. Tier 2 (general) is open only to migrants performing jobs at graduate level and tier 1 is restricted to all but entrepreneurs, investors and the exceptionally talented. The minimum salary for individuals who wish to enter the UK under the intra-company transfer route for more than 12 months is £40,000 but there is no limit on the number of migrants in this category.

June 2011
Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees (Amendment) Regulations 2010 come into force
5 June 2011

The Regulations implement the recast European Works Council Directive (2009/38/EC). The Regulations provide new rights to European Works Council members and those of special negotiating bodies, for example establishing a right to time off to undergo training to help them undertake their duties. TheRegulations can be viewed on the OPSI website.

EU blue-card Directive must be implemented
19 June 2011

The Directive defines conditions of entry and residence for more than three months of people who are not EU citizens and apply to be admitted to the EU for the purpose of high-qualified employment. Such people will be issued with an "EU blue card". The Directive (PDF format, 796K) can be viewed on the European Union website.

October 2011
Equal treatment for agency workers
1 October 2011

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93) give agency workers the same basic employment conditions after 12 weeks in a given job as if they had been employed directly by the end-user. The Regulations implement the Temporary Agency Workers Directive (2008/104/EC). The Regulations can be viewed on the OPSI website.

Registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority
To be confirmed

Further implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 was due to include voluntary registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority for all new entrants from 26 July 2010. Employers would have been obliged to check all new entrants from 1 November 2010. Individuals already working in a regulated activity and who have not moved into a new role with a new employer would have been able to apply for registration from 1 April 2011, with mandatory registration by 31 July 2015. The dates for registration are on hold and the Government is to review the vetting and barring scheme as a whole. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

Bribery offences introduced
To be confirmed

The Bribery Act 2010 aims to promote anti-bribery practices among businesses, by modernising the law on bribery. The Act introduces a corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery by persons working on behalf of a business. A business has a defence if it has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery. The penalty is an unlimited fine. For individuals, it will be a criminal offence to give, promise or offer a bribe and to request, agree to receive or accept a bribe. The legislation raises the maximum penalty for bribery by individuals from seven to 10 years’ imprisonment. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.
Flexible working for all employees
To be confirmed

The Government will extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. Currently, the right applies to those who have one or more children under the age of 17 (18 if a child is disabled) or who are carers. The Coalition: our programme for government (PDF format, 475K) (on the Cabinet Office website) sets outs the Government's five-year plan.

2012 and beyond
Parental leave increases from three to four months
8 March 2012

The minimum parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child increases from three to four months. At least one of the four months will not be transferable between parents. Member states have until 8 March 2012 to bring this into force.

Personal Accounts scheme starts up under Pensions Act 2008
October 2012
The Pensions Act provides that from 2012 all eligible workers, who are not already in a workplace pension scheme, are to be automatically enrolled into either their employers’ pension scheme or a new savings vehicle, known as a personal account scheme. To encourage participation, employees’ pension contributions will be supplemented by contributions from employers and tax relief. Details of thePersonal Accounts scheme can be viewed on the DWP website. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

School leaving age is raised to 18
2013

The Education and Skills Act 2008 changes the statutory framework to put a duty on all young people in England to participate in education or training until the age of 18. It also amends legislation about the provision of adult education and training, and support for young people. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

"Flexible" maternity and paternity leave is introduced
2015

Changes are made to maternity and paternity leave to give parents more flexibility as to when they take time off. It is expected that the changes will allow both parents to take leave at the same time, instead of the mother having to have returned to work before the father can take additional paternity leave, and allow parents to take time off in blocks, rather than all in one go.

Equalisation of state pension age for women
April 2016

The state pension age for women is equalised with the state pension age for men by November 2018, with an expedited increase from April 2016.

State pension age rises to 66 years
December 2018

The Pensions Act 2007 raises the state pension age from 65 to 66 years to reflect the ageing nature of the population. The rise in the state pension age to 66 for men and women begins gradually from December 2018 until April 2020. The Pensions Act 2007 also raises the state pension age to 67 and 68. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

State pension age rises to 67 years
Between 2034 and 2036

The Pensions Act 2007 raises the state pension age for men and women to 67. This will occur between April 2034 and April 2036. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

State pension age rises to 68 years
Between 2044 and 2046

The Pensions Act 2007 raises the state pension age for men and women to 68. This will occur between April 2044 and April 2046. The Act can be viewed on the OPSI website.

Key Date	Employment Law details
1 February 2011	Increases to redundancy pay, from £380 to £400.
February 2011	Low Pay Commission due to report recommendations for October 2011
1 April 2011	Time to Train initiative due to be extended to all employees (subject to a further consultation).
3 April 2011	Law on Additional Paternity Leave comes into force.
5 April 2011	Last possible date for employers to give notice of retirement before the Default Retirement Age is scrapped
11 April 2011	Statutory Sick Pay due to increase from £79.15 to £81.60 per week
11 April 2011	Statutory Maternity Pay, Paternity Pay, and Adoption Pay due to increase from £124.88 to £128.73 per week.
20 April 2011	Consultation on employment tribunal reforms closes.
April 2011	Unfair dismissal expected (subject to consultation) to require two years service in most cases.
April 2011	Right to request flexible working to be extended.
1 October 2011	Agency Workers Directive comes into force.
1 October 2011	The Default retirement Age will no longer be available to employers. ‘Employer Justified Retirement Ages’ will be permissible, but these will need to be objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.