Premium rate for zero-hour contracts?
The Governments employment practice adviser, Matthew Taylor, has suggested that companies in Britain could soon be forced to pay a premium rate for short-notice work.
Employers would be incentivised to guarantee work in advance if they were made to pay more for every non-guaranteed hour, says Mr. Taylor, who is leading a review into labour rights.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Taylor said,"The problem with the labour market is not the security of work; it’s the security of income. A higher rate on zero-hours contracts could stop “lazy” employers from offloading risks onto workers and stop them from demanding “one-sided flexibility”.
According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, the number of people employed on zero-hours contracts in Britain has grown by 101,000 over the past year alone – and now represents 2.8% of all people in employment. This is leading to concerns that these types of non-guaranteed work practices are giving the employer the upper hand and has led unions to call for the government to tackle the rise in these contracts.
Mr. Taylor said, after he was appointed by PM Theresa May to lead the review on modern employment practices, which he hopes to “promote a national conversation and explore how we can all contribute to work that provides opportunity, fairness and dignity”.
“We can encourage employers to be less lazy about the transferring of risk. Even if it means an employer offers 15 hours a week rather than just one at least that is 15 hours that I can know I’m going to be able to pay my mortgage”.
The review will consider the implications of new forms of work on workers’ rights and responsibilities, as well as on employer freedoms and obligations.
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Be careful of age discrimination in job adverts
Age discrimination in job advertisements has become an increased issue recently and employers need to ensure they are acting lawful under the Equality Act 2010. Such discrimination can be seen in advertisements that exclude people applying for certain roles based on their age. Specifically advertising for younger or older people not only limits your chances of finding the right candidate but also discriminates against people of certain ages and a claim can be made against you to an employment tribunal.
Ambitious Young People
Using phrases like “ambitious young people” or “youthful and energetic” straightaway excludes people from a certain age bracket to apply for these roles. These phrases clearly deter older, suitable persons from applying for such roles. With thousands of job advertisements asking for “recent graduates” it discriminates against someone who may have graduated over 10 years ago, but would also be highly suited for the position.
5+ Years’ Experience
Many young people are finding job advertisements that show clear signs of age discrimination impossible barriers to apply for these roles and getting a foot on the career ladder. If a job advertisement asks the candidate to have 5 years + experience in a particular role it could be seen as discriminating against someone who hasn’t yet had the opportunity to gain that experience as they are too young.
Learning Points
When writing a job advertisement it must be carefully written so that the criteria for the role doesn’t make it impossible for, or discourage a certain age group to apply. There are special circumstances where you may look for a particular age group to apply, and in these instances you must have a justifiable reason, or certain necessary requirements of the role and these must be clearly included in the advertisement.
For further information on how to avoid discrimination in your recruitment process please see here.
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Gender pay gap reporting begins
A new law is being introduced that will require all relevant employers in the public, private and voluntary sector with 250 or more employees to publish gender pay gap information by reporting the percentage differences in pay between their male and female employees. Employers must release information relating to employee pay, bonus pay and the number of men and woman in each quartile of the organisations pay distribution. Employers will be required to take a data snapshot of their pay data on 5 April 2017 (for private and voluntary sector) and report on specific calculations by 4 April 2018 and 31 March for public sector organisations. Employers are required to publish the report on their website and also on a government sponsored website.
The Statistics
In recent years the gender pay gap has seen an ongoing downward trend in the UK. Here we have a look at the figures from the most recent years:
| 2015 | 2016 | |
| Full-time employees | 9.6% | 9.4% |
| Including part-time employees | 13.3% | 18.1% |
This has been the lowest gender pay gap since 1997, when the gap for all employees was 27.5%. The composition of the male and female employee workforces are quite different, with more women working part-time than men, 41% and 12% respectively.
The gender pay gap also varies by occupation, for example:
- Skilled trade’s occupations: 25.1%
- Managers, directors and senior officials: 18.9%
- Associate professional and technical occupations: 11.2%
- Caring, leisure and other service occupations: 8.1%
- Sales and customer service occupations: 3.9%
The new legislation will lead to greater transparency and drive employer action to reduce the gender pay gap. As an employer if you are required to publish gender pay gap information you have 12 months to publish the information, meaning that first publication will be required in or before April 2018.
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7 Key Employment Law Changes, April 2017
April 2017 will see a number of significant changes to employment law come into effect across the UK. Here we take a look at the key changes that are coming into place.
1. Apprenticeship Levy
From 6 April, large employers are required to pay an apprenticeship levy of 0.05%. The levy will only be paid on annual pay bills in excess of £3 million, and so less than 2% of UK employers will pay it. Each employer will receive an allowance of £15,000 to offset against their levy payment. Smaller employers that do not pay the levy will also be able to receive government funding towards the costs of apprenticeship training and assessment by contributing 10% towards the cost of an apprenticeship with the government paying the remaining 90%. For more information regarding these changes you can read our blog: The Apprentice Levy, what it means for SMEs.
2. Increase to Statutory Payments
On 2 April, the weekly amount of statutory maternity pay, statutory shared parental pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay will increase from £139.58 to £140.98. On 6 April the weekly amount for statutory sick pay is also set to increase from £88.45 to £89.35. To be eligible for the above payments the individual average earnings must be equal to or higher than the lower earnings limit which is also set to increase from £112 to £113 in April 2017. For more information regarding these changes you can read our blog: April sees an increase to statutory payments.
3. Increase to National Minimum and Living Wage
On 1 April, the following increases will be made to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage National Living Wage rate: 25 and over: £7.50 from £7.20 National Minimum Wage rates: 21 - 24 Years: £7.05 from £6.95 18 - 20 Years: £5.60 from £5.55 Under 18: £4.05 from £4.00 Apprentices: £3.50 for those under 19 or those in the first year of their apprenticeship. Apprentices over 19 or who have completed the first year of their apprenticeship are entitled to the minimum wage rate for their age. For more information regarding these changes you can read our blog: Minimum wage rates to increase from 1 April.
4. Salary sacrifice tax changes
On 6 April, Benefits-in-kind offerings as tax savings through many salary sacrifice schemes are to be limited. Any scheme entered into before this date will be protected until April 2018 except for cars, accommodation and school fees when the last date is 6 April 2021. Some schemes that will not be affected include: employer provided pension saving and advice, childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme and ultra-low emission cars.
5. Changes to foreign worker rules
Employers that sponsor foreign workers with a tier 2 visa will be required to pay an immigration skills charge of £1,000 per employee or £364 for smaller organisations and charities from 6 April. This will be an additional charge to current fees for visa applications. The tier 2 minimum salary threshold will be increasing to £30,000 per year. New entrants to the job market and some health and education staff will be exempted from the salary threshold until 2019.
6. Gender pay gap reporting begins
A new law is being introduced that will require all relevant employers in the public, private and voluntary sector with 250 or more employees, to publish gender pay gap information by reporting the percentage differences in pay between their male and female employees. Employers will be required to take a data snapshot of their pay data on 5 April 2017 (for private and voluntary sector) and report on specific calculations by 4 April 2018 and 31 March for public sector organisations. The report must be published on their website and on a government website.
7. Reforms to public sector exit payments
Reforms to public sector exit payments are set to come into place in June 2017, to ensure greater consistency between public sector redundancy compensation schemes and value for money for the taxpayer. A cap of £95,000 will be put on for all public sector workers who leave their roles including as a result of redundancy or voluntary exit. Any employee that earns over £80,000 will be required to repay exit payments if they return to any public sector role within a year of receiving an exit payment.
It is important for all businesses to be aware of the changes being made in April 2017 and how these changes may affect their business. It is also important for all changes to be implemented by their relevant dates.
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