Christina Morton and Deborah Hely, of Beachcroft LLP, discuss forthcoming legislation in 2008 and how this will impact employers.

The number of legislative changes clearly in the pipeline for 2008 is relatively small, but the groundwork will also be laid next year for some important future developments. Here are some laws to look out for in 2008:

Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act 2007

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act comes into force on 6 April 2008 and will introduce a new offence of corporate manslaughter. It will allow the prosecution of an organisation where the way its activities are managed or organised amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care, and leads to a person’s death.

No other aspect of health and safety law will change. Previously, whilst an organisation could be prosecuted at common law for manslaughter, attempts to do so were frequently unsuccessful, as a result of the need to identify the ‘controlling mind’ behind the breach. This requirement has now been removed.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Directors and the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) have produced joint guidance to directors and board members entitled ‘Leading Health and Safety at Work’. The guidance is aimed at organisations of all sizes and in all sectors. It mandates organisations to place health and safety firmly within the remit of the organisation’s leadership.

At its launch event, the newly appointed chair of the HSC, Judith Hackett, emphasised that inspectors will be using the guidance as a benchmark when examining the role of the board when investigating incidents. It was clear that whether an organisation has implemented the advice of the guidance will play a crucial part in a decision as to whether to prosecute under the new act.

Employment Bill

The most significant employment law measure in the November 2007 Queen’s Speech was the Employment Bill. The bill is expected to bring about wholesale changes to, if not the total abolition of, the statutory dismissal and grievance. The statutory dispute resolution procedures were introduced in October 2004, and prescribe three-step disciplinary and grievance procedures. However, the procedures have been widely criticized for over-formalising workplace disputes and creating large amounts of case law on technical issues. It is unclear what, if anything, will replace the dispute resolution regulations. However, the government has indicated that it wishes to promote the greater use of mediation.

The bill will also clarify the enforcement framework for the national minimum wage and strengthen the enforcement regime for employment agency standards.

Flexible working

After the Queen’s Speech on 6 November, cabinet office minister Ed Miliband announced its intention to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of older children. The government went on to say that it had asked Imelda Walsh, director of HR at Sainsbury’s, to lead an independent review into how the current right to request flexible working can be extended. She will report back in the spring of 2008 and the review will be followed by a formal consultation.

Immigration changes

Over the next five years, immigration law in the UK will be drastically overhauled, simplified and consolidated, and the changes will affect all employers. There are currently 80 routes for entry and to work in the UK. These will be replaced with just five entry routes, known as tiers.

Currently the right to work in the UK is largely processed through work permits and the right to enter the UK is through visas, and these are processed separately. However, this will be replaced with a single application process. Applicants within each tier will be judged on the basis of whether they have sufficient points, as against weighted criteria, to qualify for acceptance under that tier.

The government has announced that tier one of the new points-based immigration system will be implemented by March 2008. Tier one seeks to attract highly-skilled migrant workers who wish to work in the UK but who do not have a job offer. Applicants under tier one, unlike those in the other tiers, will not need a sponsoring employer. However, they will need to meet an English language requirement.

Tier two, which will apply to applicants with a job offer in shortage and non-shortage occupations, is expected to be rolled out by the third quarter of 2008. For non-shortage occupations. applicants will have to show minimum qualifications and salary levels.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

This act will introduce a centralised vetting system for people working with children and vulnerable adults and will radically overhaul the way that Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks are carried out. The act was originally due to come into force in 2007 but is now expected to come into force in late 2008. It will have a significant impact on any organisation that currently carries out CRB checks on its staff.

Key measures include:

• Introducing a new vetting and barring scheme bringing together in one place information about those who present a potential risk to children and vulnerable adults.




• Moving responsibility for barring decisions to a new independent barring board.




• Enabling employers to make a ‘real-time’ instant check of whether a prospective employee is barred with secure online access.




• Broadening the types of work that require CRB checks, and dividing them into two categories; regulated activity and controlled activity.

Regulated activities include:

• Any activity which involves close contact with children or vulnerable adults, including teaching, training, care and also advice or guidance services.




• Any activity allowing contact with children or vulnerable adults in a specified place, such as schools and care homes.

Controlled activities include support work in health, adult social care and further education settings such as cleaner, caretaker, receptionist or catering staff;

Whilst a barred person cannot work in a regulated position, they can be employed in a role that falls under the controlled activity category, providing that certain safeguards have been put in place.

If employers employ someone to work with children or vulnerable adults, whom they know to be barred, or who has not been through the central vetting process, then they will be committing an offence and there will be penalties.

Single Equality Bill

The government consulted during 2007 on its proposals for a Single Equality Bill to simplify and improve existing legislation and modernise discrimination law. The government has already consulted on one set of proposals but these have been critically received, particularly by the outgoing equality bodies.

A revised Bill is expected in the Queen’s Speech in 2008.

Christina Morton is an associate, and Deborah Hely is a partner, in the employment team at national commercial law firm Beachcroft.