Flexible working legislation - a summary

March 19, 2003

Flexible working legislation – a summary

With a new raft of legislation resulting from the Employment Act 2002, much of which comes into effect on 6 April, employment law expert Nichola Evans has put together a useful guide to the main changes – read on to find out more and access some further information from the DTI…

The Employment Act covers a range of provisions, some of which have already been implemented. Among those areas of law affected are the way that employment tribunals and disputes are handled, changes designed to help working parents and actions to put in place the Fixed Term Work Directive (all links are to the relevant part of the DTI’s website which provides more information). Employment law specialist Nichola Evans from legal firm Rowe Cohen has put together a checklist briefly outlining the key changes below:

Maternity

From 6th April this year:

Ordinary Maternity Leave is extended from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.

Additional Maternity Leave is extended to 26 weeks, running from the end of Ordinary Maternity Leave.

To qualify for Additional Maternity Leave it will only be necessary to have worked for the six months (26 weeks) leading up to the 25th week of pregnancy. Previously, this qualification period was one year.

The Statutory Maternity Pay entitlement period has been extended from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.

Statutory Maternity Pay will be £100 per week.

Paternity

From 6th April this year:

New fathers have the option of taking 1 or 2 consecutive weeks off as Paternity Leave within eight weeks (56 days) of the child’s birth.

To qualify for Paternity Leave, the employee must have clocked-up six months (26 weeks) service by the 25th week of the pregnancy.

Statutory Paternity Pay will also be £100 per week.

Flexible working

From 6th April this year:

Employees with a clear responsibility for raising a child under the age of six (or eighteen if the child is disabled) have the right to ask their employer to seriously consider a request for more flexible working hours.

The employer must change the working hours (or give a reasonable written explanation why this has not been done) within six weeks or face the possibility of seeing the case brought before an Employment Tribunal.

To qualify, the parent/carer must have clocked-up six months (26 weeks) service.

Grievances and discipline

To avoid the risk of being deemed unfair when when dismissing an employee, employers must include details and descriptions of disciplinary procedure and grievance channels in all employees’ contracts of employment.

Discrimination

From 1st December this year, in addition to discriminating against people on the grounds of their race, colour, and sex, it will be illegal to discriminate against them on grounds of their religion and sexual orientation

Compensation

From 1st February this year unfair dismissal and redundancy compensation was marginally increased. The weekly pay limit went up from £250 to £260 and the upper limit increased from £52,000 to £53,500.

“I hope this helps to clarify the new regulations,” says Nichola Evans. “There is plenty of fine print, of course. If you find yourself in a situation where you are unclear about these changes, seek professional help.”