#redundancy

18 12 2023

Extended redundancy protection for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Handbook, Redundancy #adoption, #bedfordshirebusinesses, #employmentlaw, #hertfordshirebusinesses, #maternity, #outsourcedhumanresources, #redundancy, #sharedparentalleave, bedfordshire, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, SME, SME's, stevenage

Published in May this year, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 requires secondary legislation to bring its provisions into force and full details can be seen below, together with a number of other planned employment law changes.

The relevant statutory instrument, the Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, has been laid before Parliament in draft form and is expected to come into force on 6 April 2024.

The draft regulations amend the Maternity and Parental Leave, etc Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3312) (MAPLE), the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2788) and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3050).

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Under current rules, before offering redundancy to an employee on maternity leave, shared parental leave or adoption leave, employers have an obligation to offer them a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. This is set out in Regulation 10 of the MAPLE.

The new legislation will enable this redundancy protection to be extended so that it applies to pregnant women as well as new parents returning to work from a relevant form of leave. This will, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said, help shield new parents and expectant mothers from workplace discrimination, offering them greater job security at an important time in their lives.

The aim is to extend the MAPLE protections through an expanded period covering from when an employee tells their employer they are pregnant until 18 months after the birth.

The 18-month window will ensure that an employee returning from a year of maternity leave can receive six months’ additional redundancy protection. The 18-month window will also apply to adoption leave and shared parental leave.

For those taking shared parental leave who have not taken maternity or adoption leave, there is a six-week threshold of continuous leave that needs to be met for the requirements to apply for a period of time after shared parental leave has ended. Where the six-week threshold is not met, the requirements apply during shared parental leave.

While the details are unlikely to be changed, it is important to note that the above relates to draft regulations which have still to be formally adopted by Parliament.

Our HR Comment: Extended redundancy protection for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, BA (Hons), Owner comments: “We knew this was on its way, when it was published in May this year and it is nice to get some further information from our Chartered Institute & HR inform. This is another piece of legislation that we now know will be coming into force in April 2024, together with Flexible Working from day one of employment. Click Here to read our previous blog on Flexible Working, a day one right.

Other planned Employment Law changes

Proposed rates of SSP and family friendly leave announced – On 28 November 2023, the Government published its proposals for pay rates for family friendly leave, statutory sick pay, and the lower earnings threshold to be applied from April 2024.
Employment Law Newsletter November 2023 (Click here)
- Consultation for Acas new Code of Practice
- Bonus clawback clause in contract not a restraint of trade
- Menopause Manifesto published.
- Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 now in force.
- Remote working claims increase.
New employment laws: update – 2023 /24 (click here)
- The new Laws are:
- Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023
- Carer’s Leave Act 2023
- Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023
- Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023
- Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023
- Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023
- Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023

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At Consensus HR, we provide a range of Employment HR & Employment Law services for companies of all sizes and sectors.

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If you run a successful company but are unsure of what legal law and best practice is required for your team, give us a call now for a non-obligatory chat about Outsourced HR and what we can provide you and your team for future success of your business. Consensus HR | Helping companies outsource and manage their HR and Employment Law and Prevent People Problems – 01438 576750

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03 10 2023

Hunt sets out plan to shrink civil service | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, General, Recruitment, Redundancy #hertfordshirebusinesses, #outsourcing, #redundancy, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The Chancellor confirmed plans to clamp down on workshy benefit claimants at the Tory Party conference on Monday, and announced plans to cut the size of the civil service as MPs on the right of the party demand an end to the bloated state. A freeze on civil service recruitment would save £1bn a year, Jeremy Hunt said, as he pledged to hunt down wasteful DEI roles. Mr Hunt also ruled out tax cuts in his Autumn Budget, arguing that they would be inflationary. Asked how the Conservatives can win the next election without slashing taxes, the Chancellor told GB News: “The way you win elections is by making promises that people believe. And we are being very honest with people, there is no shortcut to tax cuts.” Meanwhile, a group of Tory rebels have formed a block to oppose any future increase in the overall tax burden. Former party chairman Sir Jake Berry told an event hosted by the New Conservative Group that the current tax to GDP ratio now stands at 37% and that was too high.

Our HR advice comment: Hunt sets out plan to shrink civil service as pressure mounts to cut taxes | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “With the Conservatives Party Conference going on at present and the Chancellors comments yesterday regarding the clampdown on workshy benefit claimants, we wait to see the way forward and how we can help businesses and their teams to continue to work to best practice and the law for the success of the business and the team’s future careers / health.

A few of our previous blogs on this subject can be found below:

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If you have a team and wish to find out, how best it is to create a HR strategy for the future success of the company and team, contact us now.

YOUR OUTSOURCED HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.

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Retail union calls on Low Pay Commission to be ambitious on minimum wage rates | Consensus HR in Herts & Beds

20 09 2023

Union calls for answers over Wilko pension deficit | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Contracts, Employment Law, General, Redundancy @sg1, #outsourcing, #pensions, #redundancy, #wilko, bedfordshire, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, outsourcedHR, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

The union representing Wilko workers has called on MPs to question Lisa Wilkinson on how her family, which received almost £100m in dividends in the decade before the retailer’s collapse, will plug the company’s multimillion-pound pension fund deficit. Sir Steve Webb said the pensions regulator “will be all over this and looking very closely at what happened.” Wilkinson previously defended the pay-outs and pointed to its £100m worth of assets and a bank balance of £58m at the time. She told the Times that the board had “checked… there was sufficient cash, we went through the right governance, the auditors checked it off,” adding that what the family had taken out “really wouldn’t have made a difference.” Meanwhile, Wilko’s administrators, PwC, said on Tuesday that 111 more stores will close this week.

The Times

London Evening Standard

The Sun

Our HR comment and advice: – Union calls for answers over Wilko pension deficit | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

Matthew P Chilcott, FCIPD, ACEL, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Since this was first announced in the news, we have followed this situation and a few of our blogs on the subject can be seen below. It is very sad when any business folds and especially when it is such a well know brand as Wilkos. As written throughout, a range of buyers were found but unfortunately for various reasons none were successful, and the business has been broken up and the name sold and now it has been published that there is a pension deficit! My thoughts are with the employees who many worked continually whilst a new buyer was found and who now are going to be made redundant with what I believe in the circumstances will only be statutory redundancy and now questions over their Pension. I wish all of them the best in finding a new role within retail with hopefully ‘The Range’ and other retailers who have already expressed an interest in parts of the business.”

Here are a few of our previous blogs written on the subject:

Wilko administrators urged to consider bids that save jobs | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
Wilko collapses into administration | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds
Redundancy & Maternity Leave. What is the law?
Redundancy

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If your business is facing difficult times and believe you may have to make major changes to the structure, then gives us a call now to help you work to best practice and the law.

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For further information on any of the HR subjects we provide, please click the heading below:

BP to review personal relationships following Looney departure | Consensus HR – Herts, Beds

15 12 2022

Compulsory liquidations soar in November

Matthew Chilcott Blog, Employment Law, General, Redundancy #liquidations, #outsourcedhumanresources, #redundancy, Business, Business Owners, hertfordshire, HR, HR Advice, HR Consultant, HR Consultants, HR Support, Small Business, SME, SME's, stevenage

Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Owner of Consensus HR comments: “Unfortunately, this is not the greatest of news just before Christmas 2022 and the New Year 2023 but really does continue to emphasise the difficulties that businesses are continuing to experience to remain in business.

At Consensus HR, we see businesses from all spectrums of the Employee Life Cycle, when the country and economy is booming, recruitment increases and when it is not, redundancies / company restructures take place, and it is in these instances together with employee relations and development of the team that we are called upon for support. If your business is having to consider changes with its team, we highly suggest for the welfare and motivation of the team and customer service / sales that you contact a HR Consultancy to support you and help make an extremely difficult business decision completed to best practice and the law.”

NEWS ARTICLE:

Company insolvencies in November were 21% up on the same month last year and 35% higher than in 2019 – the last pre-pandemic November. The Insolvency Service data show that there were 2,029 registered company insolvencies last month. Of these, 1,595 were creditor voluntary liquidations. The analysis also reveals that there were five times as many compulsory liquidations last month than in November 2021, with a 7% increase on November 2019. The Insolvency Service said compulsory liquidations had increased from historic lows during the pandemic, partly as a result of an increase in winding-up petitions presented by HMRC. Christina Fitzgerald, president of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, said: “What we’re seeing here is a perfect storm of creditors pursuing unpaid debts and directors choosing to close down their businesses — either before this choice is taken away from them or because they have simply run out of road.” David Kelly, Head of Insolvency at PwC, said: “This is a sobering reminder that rising interest rates, energy costs and supply chain issues are starting to bite as we head into 2023.”

The Times

The Evening Standard

The Guardian

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Here is our latest blog in relation to some November statistics in relation to compulsory redundancy.

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