Below are the key Bills to affect HR that were presented in the Queen's Speech to Parliament today, along with the verdicts of those in the know:
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill
This Bill covers HR-related subjects such as employment disputes and director’s pay.
Reforms to the employment tribunal system are intended to try and reduce the number of claims. They will result in more options being provided for the early resolution of disputes through the conciliation service, Acas. Moreover, judges alone rather than panels will henceforth have the power to decide whether to consider unfair dismissal claims.
Verdict: Vanessa Hogan, a senior associate at law firm, Hogan Lovells, said: “As confirmed in the ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’ consultation, in future, employees will be required to engage in “pre-claim conciliation” to try and reduce the number of cases going to employment tribunal. Employers will welcome this if it succeeds. But it remains to be seen if pre-claim conciliation is any more successful than the repealed statutory dispute resolution procedures that had the same objective.”
On the issue of directors’ pay, shareholders will, for the first time, have a binding vote on deciding their renumeration and be able to vote down pay deals that they deem to be excessive.
Verdict: John Cridland, the CBI’s director general, said: “Shareholder power is now being felt in the boardroom and the government should be careful that new legislation supports accountability to shareholders, but does not try to turn them into micro-managers. To be workable, the threshold for forward-looking binding votes should be a simple, straight majority and the plans to introduce binding votes on exit payments should be dropped.”
Pensions Bill
Between 2020, this Bill, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales only, will bring forward the state pension age to 66 for both men and women and to 67 by 2026 and 2028. In future, the state pension age will rise automatically in line with the longevity of the population, however.
The new legislation will also simplify the state pension system, creating a universal flat rate benefit of £140 per week for retirees in England, Wales and Scotland although, with inflation, the figure is expected to rise to £155 by 2015 or 2016. This compares with a full state pension of £107.45 per week, which can be topped up to £137.35 with pension credits.
Verdict: Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, said: “We are delighted by this confirmation of the government’s commitment to a long-awaited, landmark reform. This is another big step towards a simpler, more generous state pension that no longer penalises people for saving. A new system will take millions out of means-tested benefits and will encourage people to take control of their own age by saving towards it.”
Public Service Pensions Bill
On the day before thousands of public sector workers are due to strike over their pensions, this Bill implements the controversial changes that led to the UK’s first national strike for a generation. Pensions will move from being final salary to career average schemes and the age at which members can draw on them will be extended.
Verdict: Unite’s assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail said: “Tomorrow’s industrial action will build on the high level of anger that was on display during the 30 November strikes. This anger has been increased by the government’s hardline insistence that public sector employees work longer, pay more and receive less when they eventually retire….We call on the coalition to heed the lessons of last week’s local elections and enter into genuine and meaningful talks with the unions.”
Children and Families Bill
This Bill means that default maternity leave will be reduced from 26 to 18 weeks so that the remaining entitlement can be shared between both partners.
Verdict: Chief executive of charity Working Families, Sarah Jackson, said: “We want to see more choice and flexibility for fathers to share the care, and more paternity leave would be a great step forward. But the government consulted on cutting maternity leave to 18 weeks, which is a step too far. Pushing women back to work too soon will bring hidden costs and guarantee six months for mums.”
But Helen Wells, director of Opportunity Now, Business in the Community’s gender campaign, disagreed.
She said: “This is a huge step towards gender equality as the ability to share childcare responsibility within a family is core to women’s success in the workplace. Yet it is vital that families are supported to make their own choices over how the leave is taken – neither parent should come under pressure to only take the minimum leave. Businesses will need clear guidance on what the parameters are for how and when leave is taken.”
Although details on the planned extension of the right to request flexible working were not announced in the Queen’s Speech as expected, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills has confirmed to Opportunity Now that an announcement is due later this month.
