Written Statement of Employment

(References to the ERA 1996 means the Employment Rights Act 1996.)

A written statement of employment (WSE) must be given to an employee or a worker before the start of their employment – if it started on or after 6 April 2020 – regardless of the length of their employment. And the following additional terms and conditions of employment must be included in the WSE.

• The days on which the employee or worker is required to work.

• Whether or not the working hours or days may be variable; and if they may be variable - how do they vary; or how that variation is to be determined.

• Paid leave (e.g. maternity or paternity leave).

• Benefits (e.g. vouchers or discounted meals).

• Any probationary period, including any conditions and its duration.

• Any training entitlement provided by the employer. Terms and conditions about the training may be provided in some other document which is reasonably accessible to the worker (amended section 2(2) of the ERA 1996). And those terms and conditions may be given in instalments - but not later than two months after the start of the employee's or worker’s employment – even where the employment ends before that date (amended section 2(4) of the ERA 1996). See Stefanko v Maritime Hotel Ltd (EAT/0024/18).

• Any part of that training entitlement which the employer requires the worker to complete.

• Any other training which the employer requires the worker to complete where the employer will not pay the cost of the training (section 1(4)(n) of the ERA 1996).

Where applicable, the WSE must indicate that a term or condition does not exist, e.g. “The employer will pay the cost of any training that you are required to complete” in response to section 1(4)(n) of the ERA 1996 (see the final bullet point above). A proactive employer may wish to include the above additional terms and conditions of employment in its WSE before 6 April 2020.

Average Statutory Holiday Pay

From 6 April 2020, the reference period for calculating average statutory holiday pay will be increased from 12 weeks to 52 weeks (see page 33 of the Good Work Plan).

Source: The Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2018/1378).

Childcare Voucher Scheme was not discriminatory

In Peninsula Business Services Ltd v Donaldson (EAT/0249/15), Ms Donaldson was a pregnant employee who was entitled to statutory maternity pay (SMP). She refused to join her employer’s salary sacrifice scheme (SSS) because it provided that her entitlement to childcare vouchers would be suspended during her maternity leave. Ms Donaldson claimed that the SSS amounted to unlawful sex discrimination but the EAT disagreed.

The EAT held that the provision of childcare vouchers under the SSS was a part of an employee’s remuneration under reg. 9 of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. And therefore, the employer did not have to provide childcare vouchers to Ms Donaldson during her maternity leave.

The SSS provided the means to make a deduction from Ms Donaldson's salary to pay for childcare vouchers. But the vouchers were not a benefit in kind that was additional to her salary. And although tax legislation treated childcare vouchers as a non-cash benefit – the provision of the vouchers under the SSS remained to be a part of the Ms Donaldson's remuneration.

The EAT said that Parliament did not intend that an employer must continue providing childcare vouchers when an employee was only receiving SMP and there was no salary from which a deduction could be made to pay for the vouchers.

The EAT also held that sections 18 (Pregnancy and maternity discrimination: work cases) or 19 (Indirect discrimination) of the Equality Act 2010 did not apply to Ms Donaldson's claim of unlawful sex discrimination.

Tribunal awards will increase from 6 April 2016

From 6 April 2016, tribunal awards will be increased by the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2016.

The main increases are:

• The maximum amount of a week’s pay will increase from £475 to £479.
• The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £78,335 to £78,962.

The daily limit on a guarantee payment remains unchanged at £26.00.

Tribunal awards will increase from 6 April 2015

From 6 April 2015, tribunal awards will be increased by the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2015.

The main increases are:

• The maximum amount of a week’s pay will increase from £464 to £475.
• The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal will increase from £76,574 to £78,335.

• The daily limit on a guarantee payment will increase from £25.00 to £26.00.

Guides on shared parental leave and pay

• Shared parental leave and pay: employers' technical guide to shared parental leave and pay is available on the GOV.UK website.
• Shared parental leave and pay is available on the ACAS website.
• Shared Parental Leave and Pay: an employer guide is available on the GOV.UK website.

Time off for ante-natal appointments

From 1 October 2014, an employee or agency worker (e.g. a father) can take time off from work to attend two ante-natal appointments with a pregnant woman (e.g. the mother of his expected child). The employee or agency worker can take up to 6 ½ hours off from work for each appointment.

However, certain agency workers are not entitled to take time off from work for ante-natal appointments, e.g. an agency worker who has not worked in the same role with the same hirer for 12 continuous weeks.

For further information, see section 127(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014.

Flexible working extended to all employees

From 30 June 2014, the right to request flexible working (FW) will be extended to all employees who have been continuously employed for a period of at least 26 weeks.

A FW request will be taken as being made on the day on which the request was sent electronically to an employer - where the employer has an electronic form for FW requests - and has specified an electronic address to which the completed form can be sent. A FW request will be taken as being made on the day of delivery if the request was delivered personally.

The statutory procedure for considering a FW request is expected to be abolished on 30 June 2014. However, paragraph 13 of the draft ACAS Code of Practice states that an employer must consider and decide the outcome of a request for FW (including any appeals) - within a three-month period from the receipt of the request - unless the employer and the employee agree to extend the period.

The ACAS is expected to publish a guide and a Code of Practice on considering a request for FW in a reasonable manner.

Source: Flexible Working Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1398)