Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Increase of National Minimum Wage 1 October 2010 Employers are considering the impact of the forthcoming increase in the National Minimum Wage. The main rate will apply to 21-year-old workers. The main rate of the National Minimum Wage rises from £5.80 per hour to £5.93 per hour. The development rate goes from £4.83 per hour to £4.92 per hour. The rate for workers aged 16 to 17 years increases from £3.57 to £3.64. An apprentice rate of £2.50 per hour will apply to apprentices who are under 19 or those who are aged 19 and over but in the first year of their apprenticeship. Single Equality Act October 2010 The Equality Act 2010 will have a huge impact on employers, including prohibiting employers from asking questions about health before offering a candidate a post. Businesses who find they have unwittingly employed a preson with physical or mental "disability" will not find it easy to dismiss them. The Act is expected to cause employers real difficulty and give rise to even more tribunal claims. The Act defines direct discrimination as "less favourable treatment on the ground of a protected characteristic" and esatblishes indirect discrimination as "the application of a provision, criterion or practice that is discriminatory in relation to a protected characteristic". The question employers must consider is "What is a protected Characteristic?" Default Retirement Age abolished October 2011 The default retirement age is to be abolished by October 2011. Currently employers can make staff retire at 65 regardless of their circumstances. The new plans allow for six-month transition from the existing regulations, following the announcement in the Budget that the DRA would be phased out from April 2011. It will still be possible for employers to operate a compulsory retirement age, provided that they can objectively justify it as being essential for the business. Some employers organisations are arguing that these proposals could make workforce planning almost impossible. "A default retirment enables employers to plan more confidently for the future. In certain jobs, especially physically demanding ones, working beyond 65 is not going to be possible for everyone."