2012 maternity pay rates
by Katie White, May 15th, 2012
Beyond the babygrows and infinite supply of nappies seemingly necessary when starting a family, there’s the financially terrifying prospect of maternity leave slashing the household income.
Some women are lucky enough to work for organisations that pay more than statutory maternity pay. (Check your employment contract or your staff handbook to find out.)
But most people are only entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (“SMP”). This is payable at two rates:
- In the first six weeks of maternity leave, you will be paid an “earnings-related rate”. This is 90% of your normal earnings per week.
- For the other 33 weeks of maternity leave, your pay will either be what is known as the “prescribed rate”, or the earnings-related rate, whichever is lower. The prescribed rate is set by the Government and usually revised each year.
Since 1st April 2012 the weekly rate for SMP (as well as statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay) has gone up from £128.73 to £135.45. Those who do not qualify for this allowance, or are self employed, are usually entitled to maternity allowance. This social security benefit has also increased by exactly the same amount so it’s also £135.45 per week.
Of course the changes are less than spectacular. £6.72 per week extra is unlikely to have a dramatic affect for those going through a significant drop in income. Yet in many countries, including the USA, there is no legal requirement for paid maternity leave and it continues to be the exception rather than the rule.
What can you buy with £6.72?
- 5,700 value brand nappy bags
- 800g Johnson’s baby powder
- 112 own-brand nappies from a popular British supermarket
- 11 pots of Cow & Gate cauliflower cheese baby food 4+months
- 1 Lady and the Tramp babygrow
Employers can prevent a serious bout of Olympic flu
by Katie White, May 3rd, 2012
With the Olympics only 85 days away, requests for time off may have already come flooding in, but the problematic possibility of an inflated sickness rate remains. It’s an unfortunate fact that sickness absence in the workplace often increases when large sporting events are televised during work time.
A few potential reasons spring to mind:
- Individuals who have genuinely had a minor illness, find their enthusiasm to swiftly return to work impeded by a desire to stay home and watch televised coverage; and
- Some of those who have been given a last minute ticket, forgotten to request leave or simply been refused time off for an event decide to “pull a sickie”.
Suspicion that an employee has taken sickness absence without proper reason is a tricky matter to handle, so here are some tips:
- A well drafted sickness absence policy should, amongst other things, cover the process for investigating any absence that is suspected to be disingenuous. The policy should deal clearly with the consequences of false claims. You can cross refer this with your disciplinary policy if you wish.
- Communicate your absence policy to all managers and staff in advance of the big events like the Olympics. It is crucial that policies are followed consistently across an organisation.
- Investigate! If you have suspicions that someone has falsely called in sick, do your research. This comes under your disciplinary procedure, rather than the one mentioned above regarding sickness absence. Some cases are going to be simpler than others. The employee who claimed 24 hour flu, but later posts pictures of cheering on the men’s 100m final on Facebook, is an easy one to pin down. Others may be more difficult and a return to work investigatory meeting with them to discuss the absence can be a good starting point. Be careful that you do no single out specific employees, but aim to treat everyone the same.
- Handle it appropriately. If you discover that an employee has falsely taken sickness absence, implement your disciplinary process.
- Consider alternative ways to avoid employees resorting to calling in sick. You may want to consider flexible working, or allow unpaid leave. Some businesses with appropriate facilities may consider having lunch time screenings of major events.
Important change for Apprentices
by Katie White, April 17th, 2012
In the latest wave of employment legislation updates coming into force this April, the government has made some amendments to the arrangements a business must make when taking on apprentices.
True apprenticeships are work based training programmes, where anyone over 16 years old can earn a wage and work alongside experienced staff to gain job-specific skills.
When an employer takes on an apprentice, that person joins the employer’s business under a contract of service for a fixed term. In the past, when taking on an apprentice, there were minimal requirements for the contract itself, with the legislation only requiring that the agreement entered into was in the “prescribed form” which had the ability to vary in form from provider to provider.
This has now changed, and the bar has been raised. The Apprenticeships (Form of Apprenticeship Agreement) Regulations 2012 came into force on 6 April 2012 and specify that the prescribed form must contain the basic terms of employment required to be given to employees under section 1 of Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA). In addition, the apprentice must also be given a statement as to the trade or skill for which they are to be trained.
Whilst these changes are probably not dramatic, they do help define the employer/apprentice relationship and its aims.
By Katie White
Founding Partner of GatwickDiamondJobs.com
by Jason Edge, April 3rd, 2012
We are pleased to announce that Mayo Wynne Baxter are founding partners of GatwickDiamondJobs.com whch you may be surprised to learn is more than just a great place to advertise your vacancies and find a job.
GatwickDiamondJobs.com also provides information on education, training, news and a round up of what is happening in the Gatwick Diamond. We have also provided a section for employment law advice.
Check out this short video:
Will the budget succeed in tackling youth unemployment?
by Marika Monaghan, March 22nd, 2012
With more than one million young people in Britain out of work urgent action is needed. In his introduction George Osborne declared this was a budget that “rewards work” and will put the UK in the best possible position to work its way out of economic difficulties. He forecasts unemployment will peak this year at 8.7% but that one million more jobs will be created over the next five years. So how many of these measures will benefit unemployed 18 to 25 year-olds?
A £10million enterprise loan scheme has been introduced to help young entrepreneurs set up their own business. According to the Department for Business up to 7,000 young people aged 18-24 will be able to borrow between £5,000 and £10,000 in start-up capital. However the scheme is not due to commence until March 2013 and borrowers will be expected to start repaying the loan once their business begins to make money.
If the business fails the young entrepreneur will still have to pay back the loan, although this obligation will only be triggered once they are earning a reasonable level of income. Given the precarious state of the economy it is safe to assume some new businesses will fail, thus plunging young entrepreneurs into yet more debt. The Chancellor is banking on the businesses that survive being successful enough to more than offset the losses made by failed enterprises.
People often start out their working life on a low income so measures to pull the lowest paid out of tax should help many young people in either full or part-time work. The increase in the personal allowance to £9,205 should go a long way to help some of the poorest workers, but one can’t help wonder whether this will provide some employers with a perverse incentive to pay young workers less. Also, raising the personal allowance does little to improve the position of the poorest workers whose income is not high enough to meet the existing threshold.
At the other end of the spectrum the 50p rate has been scrapped for higher rate tax payers. It is hoped that this will encourage existing businesses to invest in more staff and encourage entrepreneurs to start up their businesses in the UK rather than elsewhere. This was in many ways a budget for businesses and business people and the Chancellor’s plans to lower corporate tax should act as an additional incentive.
Perhaps one of the most obvious moves towards addressing youth unemployment is the change to the national minimum wage announced days before the budget. Although there has been a slight rise for people aged 21 or over, the minimum wage for 16-17 year olds and 18-20 year olds will remain frozen. This may encourage employers to invest in taking on and training up young workers, but it also sets a poverty trap. On a separate note incentivising business to take on young workers may have the unintended consequence of encouraging businesses to discriminate against older employees who have a wealth of experience to bring to the labour market and are also more likely to have a family to support than the under 20s. It’s a difficult balance.
Turning to the proposal to freeze millions of public sector workers’ pay to bring their salaries in line with regional pay in the private sector, it should be borne in mind that in some of the poorest areas of the country a large proportion of the work force is in the public sector. Unions have already criticised this proposal on the basis that this “will simply cause more businesses to fail by taking even more money out of the local economies” (Brendan Barber, the TUC General Secretary). However, this proposal may have less of an impact on younger workers who may find it easier to relocate to more prosperous areas than their older counterparts.
Ultimately the test will be whether the measures intended to boost British businesses result in more jobs. It’s a sad fact that when jobs are scarce those without experience are often disproportionately affected, so economic growth is the only real answer.
New rules on unfair dismissal judged fair enough
by Martin Williams, March 15th, 2012
6th April 2012 is set to bring employers an extra year’s protection from claims of unfair dismissal.
People who are hired on or after 6th April 2012 will now have to be employed for two years before qualifying for the right to claim for unfair dismissal. Those already in post will still have the right to claim after 12 months.
The change is part of the Government’s plans to boost economic growth and business confidence. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills claims this one measure could save businesses an estimated £6million per year and reduce Employment Tribunal cases by around 2,000.
Policy makers might like to see any boosts in April’s employment figures as a sign employers appreciate another year’s grace before unfair dismissal claims can loom. A more likely, if cynical, explanation is that organisations may actively avoid taking on new recruits until 6th April, to gain the longer qualifying period.
What Suarez tribunal means for employers
by Martin Williams, February 15th, 2012
With more controversy over Luis Suarez’s failure to shake Patrice Evra’s hand the ongoing saga contains all sorts of lessons for employers – not least the value of a full and immediate apology. For those occasionally involved in Tribunals it’s also an important reminder of the difficulties caused by sparse documentary evidence.
The FA held a Tribunal to decide whether the allegations of racial abuse were true. Without clear documentation the process relied heavily on witness testimony. In these circumstances much depends on the quality and persuasiveness of that evidence. The FA’s Tribunal found Patrice Evra’s testimony more credible than that of the Liverpool striker. No consideration was given to the character of the two players apart from the incident itself. This is very much the case with Employment Tribunals unless ongoing records are available.
The FA Tribunal assessed Luis Suarez’s delivery of evidence. Allowances were made for his lack of English skills, yet the panel still decided he was less credible. Conversely Patrice Evra was found to be clear and calm.
Consistency was also important for the FA Tribunal. They judged Evra’s evidence highly on this count, while being less impressed with Suarez. There were suggestions his evidence may have shifted in response to how the case developed.
Perceived reliability of a witness and the consistency of their story are crucial points which any Employment Tribunal considers. They are even more decisive when there is no documentary evidence to refer to.
A good paper trail lessens this reliance on how witnesses stand up to questioning. Without paperwork those involved need professional guidance on how to present a case right from the start. Lawyers are not permitted to coach Tribunal witnesses so individuals must depend on their familiarity with the evidence to perform well under oath.
The FA’s Tribunal’s decision was made on their judgement of the facts at hand. Any other Tribunal would do the same and these circumstances leave little room for appeal.
Increase in awards
by Martin Williams, February 3rd, 2012
On 1 February 2012, the rates of certain statutory payments and the limits applying to some employment tribunal awards were increased. The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal rose from £68,400 to £72,300. The maximum amount of a week’s pay, used to calculate statutory redundancy pay and the basic award, rose from £400 to £430.
Please see The Basics page for further details.
Olympic Games 2012: Handling multiple requests for annual leave
by Katie White, January 31st, 2012
With only months to go until the commencement of the Olympic Games 2012, many employers are finding that the requests for annual leave during the weeks of the 27July – 12 August and 29 August – 9 September 2012 are starting to come in.
For those businesses based in London, the London 2012 Organising Committee are hoping that 30% fewer people will be coming in to work during the Olympic Games, so that the transport system can cope. The expectation is, therefore, that a great deal of people will be taking annual leave during this time.
Dealing with multiple requests for leave during a short space of time can be tricky for employers so plans should be put in place now.
There are various options for dealing with Olympic Games related requests for leave:
- ‘First come first served’. Many employee handbooks will already have this stated as the general procedure when booking any form of holiday, but, if not, this is likely to be a popular approach. There is a choice as to whether or not to publicise a policy or just make an announcement when the allotted spaces are taken. Bear in mind that if using this approach that it will be important to be able to distinguish between requests made on the same day.
- Take a draw. Employers may wish to send a memo to staff, notifying them that all holiday requests for the Olympic Games should be made by a certain deadline. Requests may have to be separated out by department/team. As such, a decision will have to be made about the maximum number of staff that can be absent at any one time in each department/team. If the number of requests is within that maximum, everyone is happy. If they are over, a draw will help decide who is to be successful. It might be worth carrying out the draw in front of the staff so that no accusations of ‘fixing’ ensue!
- Consider flexible working. As an alternative to rejecting multiple requests consideration could be given to flexible working for the weeks of the Olympic Games. Such an allowance could mean that employees make up the time by coming into work early,leaving later, even working at the weekends.
- Allow unpaid leave. Employers may be faced with a situation whereby people have booked tickets/secured volunteer places, and do not have sufficient annual leave to cover their proposed absence. Allowing unpaid leave could be a solution.
Employers should bear in mind that some staff may have no interest in the Olympics at all, and a restriction on their allowance to take leave at a particular time in favour of those who want to watch the Olympic Games may leave them feeling disgruntled. The big problem is that the first batch of games do, of course, occur at the peak holiday period. In order to be fair to all, no matter what the reason for requesting a consistent approach is crucial and absence requests should all be treated in the same way.
By Katie White
Employment nightmares of an Olympic nature
by Katie White, January 19th, 2012
There are now less than 200 days to go until the Olympic Games 2012. 6.6million tickets have been purchased, all volunteer places have been confirmed and my clients tell me requests for time off work are already flooding in.
Excitement aside, the games are going to present some challenges for employers. Concerns may include:
- Lots of employees wishing to take annual leave at the same time.
- The difficulties that come with conflicting commitments with those employees that have signed up to voluntary work.
- Employees hoping to view events from the comfort of their office – openly or otherwise.
Those employers who haven’t yet faced a flurry of requests might want to brace themselves now.
In the run up to the world’s largest sporting event I will be publishing a series of short articles for employers.
I will be discussing ways of dealing with requests fairly, outlining the issues around volunteers and suggesting ways of dealing with under performance, as well as the loss of bandwidth with all that live streaming.
If you’d like to see a particular problem covered in this blog please drop me a line by email: kwhite@mayowynnebaxter.co.uk or leave a comment below.
By Katie White