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Timetable of forthcoming employment law
Employment Zones Regulations 2003 come into
force 27 October 2003
The Regulations make provision for a claimant
of a jobseeker's allowance to participate in an employment zone programme
established by the Secretary of State under the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act
1999, section 60 in areas of Great Britain known as ‘employment zones’ to assist
jobseekers to obtain sustainable employment. The Regulations can be viewed on
the HMSO website. http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032438.htm
Management of Health and Safety Regulations
2003 come into force 27 October 2003
The Management of Health and Safety at Work
and Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 make a small
number of amendments rectifying minor defects in the Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations
1997. In addition, the Regulations provide that employees may now bring civil
claims against their employers where they are in breach of duties imposed by the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The Regulations can be
viewed on the HMSO website.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032457.htm
Incapacity Benefit Interviews Regulations
2003 come into force 27 October 2003
The Social Security (Incapacity Benefit
Work-focused Interviews) Regulations 2003 impose a requirement on certain
persons who claim incapacity benefit, income support on the grounds of
incapacity, income support whilst they are appealing against a decision which
embodies a determination that they are not incapable of work, or severe
disablement allowance to take part in work-focused interviews. The Regulations
can be viewed on the HMSO website. http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032439.htm
Working time: 48-hour opt-out
recommendation due November 2003
Deadline for the European Commission's report
and proposals on the 48-hour week individual opt-out exemption.
Regulations banning hand-held mobiles while
driving come into force 1 December 2003
The regulations create a criminal offence of
using a hand-held mobile phone or similar device while driving. Under the
proposals, employers that 'cause or permit' their employees to use a hand-held
phone while driving will be liable. Draft regulations have not yet been
published.
Sexual orientation (Amendment) Regulations
2003 come into force 1 December 2003
The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation)
Regulations 2003 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 amend the Employment Equality
(Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of
sexual orientation by trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes. The
draft Regulations can be viewed on the Department of Trade and Industry website.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/so_draftregs.pdf
Sexual orientation discrimination
regulations come into force 1 December 2003
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation)
Regulations 2003 come into force. The Regulations make it unlawful to
discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in employment and vocational
training. This includes direct discrimination, indirect discrimination,
victimisation and harassment.
Religion or Belief (Amendment) Regulations
2003 come into force 2 December 2003
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief)
Regulations 2003 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 amend the Employment Equality
(Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief by trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes. The
draft Regulations can be viewed on the Department of Trade and Industry website.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/rel_draftregs.pdf
Religious discrimination legislation comes
into force 2 December 2003
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief)
Regulations 2003 make it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religion or
belief in employment and vocational training. This includes direct
discrimination, indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment.
Working time: EC Aviation Directive
December 2003
Deadline for member states to implement the
provisions of the EC Aviation Directive.
New employment agency regulations come into
force Early 2004
Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment
Businesses Regulations 2002 come into force. Under the new Regulations
organisations offering work-finding services are required to make it clear
whether they operate as employment agencies or employment businesses. The rules
prevent agencies charging a fee when a temporary employee is permanently
engaged, unless an extended hiring period has first been offered on usual terms.
Code of practice on medical records is
published During 2004
The final part of a four-part Code of practice
on the use of personal data in employer/employee relationships is issued by the
Information Commissioner. Part 1, dealing with recruitment and selection
(published in March 2002), part 2, covering the management of records (published
in September 2002), and part 3, dealing with monitoring at work (published in
June 2003), can be viewed on the Information Commissioner's website. Once part 4
is published, parts 1 and 2 will be revised to ensure the whole Code is
consistent.
TUPE reforms come into force April 2004
Reforms to the Transfer of Undertakings
(Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 come into force. Proposed reforms
include applying the Regulations more comprehensively to service contracting
operations (such as office cleaning, catering, security guarding and refuse
collection); introducing a requirement on the transferor to notify the
transferee of the employment liabilities that will be transferring; clarifying
when employers can lawfully make transfer-related dismissals and negotiate
transfer-related changes to terms and conditions of employment for 'economic,
technical or organisational' (ETO) reasons; and introducing new flexibility into
the Regulations' application in relation to the transfer of insolvent
businesses.
New asbestos regulation comes into force 21
May 2004
Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002,
regulation 4 requires anyone with maintenance and repair responsibilities for a
workplace to take reasonable steps to locate materials likely to contain
asbestos; keep an up-to-date written record of the location of these materials;
monitor the condition of these materials; assess the risk of exposure from
asbestos and materials that are presumed to be asbestos; and prepare and
implement a plan to control these risks. Regulation 4 can be viewed on the HMSO
website.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022675.htm#4
Occupational health: physical vibrations
directive comes into force During 2004
Legislation to comply with the Draft Physical
Agents (Vibration) Directive comes into force . The Directive places a specific
legal duty on employers to take steps to control hand-arm vibration risks when
vibration from power tools reaches a particular level. However, the UK
Government, whilst supporting the original draft Directive, opposes the amended
version, on the grounds that evidence linking whole-body vibration and ill
health is unclear.
Corporate homicide legislation comes into
force During 2004
New laws on corporate killing and corporate
manslaughter are introduced. A company will be found guilty of corporate killing
if 'a management failure by it is a cause or one of the causes of a person's
death; and that failure constitutes conduct falling far below what can
reasonably be expected of it in the circumstances'. Two new manslaughter
offences are introduced: reckless killing and killing by gross carelessness.
Details of the Government's proposals can be viewed on the Home Office website.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/consult/invmans.htm
Working time: junior doctors August 2004
First part of phased introduction of junior
doctors' hours limit: 58-hour maximum week.
Dispute Resolution Regulations come into
force 1 October 2004
The Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution)
Regulations require employers to develop and make available to employees minimum
statutory procedures for resolving grievances and dealing with allegations of
misconduct and poor performance in the workplace. The draft Regulations can be
viewed on the Department of Trade and Industry website.
New Disability Discrimination Act
regulations come into force 1 October 2004
Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act
1995 include the removal of the exemption for employers with fewer than 15
employees, the extension of the Act to previously excluded sectors including
fire-fighters and prison officers, and a change to the burden of proof. The
draft Regulations can be viewed on Department of Trade and Industry website.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/disabilityregs.pdf
Occupational health: new asbestos
regulation comes into force 21 November 2004
Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002,
regulation 20 comes into force. It requires any person analysing a material in
order to determine whether it contains asbestos to comply with European Standard
EN ISO/IEC 17025. Regulation 20 can be viewed on the HMSO website.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022675.htm#20
EC Road Transport Directive March 2005
Deadline for member states to implement the
provisions of the EC Road Transport Directive.
Information and consultation legislation
comes into force 23 March 2005
The Information and Consultation Directive,
which establishes a general framework setting out minimum requirements for the
right to information and consultation of employees in undertakings or
establishments within the European Community, is implemented in the UK.
Sexual and sex-related harassment
legislation comes into force 5 October 2005
Legislation to comply with the Equal Treatment
Directive comes into force. The Directive introduces a definition of sexual
harassment that incorporates both sex-related harassment and sexual harassment.
'Sex-related harassment' is defined as 'where an unwanted conduct related to the
sex of a person occurs with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a
person, and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or
offensive environment'. 'Sexual harassment' is defined as 'where any form of
unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs, with
the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when
creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive
environment'.
Noise regulations come into force Late 2005
As a result of European legislation, tighter
noise control legislation is implemented. This includes placing a far higher
number of employees in the hearing conservation programme and lowering the
permissible noise exposure limits.
Age discrimination legislation comes into
force 1 October 2006
Legislation outlawing age discrimination, as
required by the Employment Framework Directive, comes into force.
Data Protection Act 1998 comes fully into
force 24 October 2007
Manual filing systems in existence before 24
October 1998 are now required to comply fully with the Data Protection Directive
(95/46/EC).
Working time: junior doctors August 2012
Final part of phased introduction of junior
doctors' hours limit: 48-hour maximum week.
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