• On 18 December 2012, the Government announced that the collective redundancy consultation period will be reduced to 45 days (for redundancies involving 100 or more employees) with effect from April 2013. The collective consultation period for redundancies involving between 20 and 99 redundancies will remain at 30 days. The expiry of a fixed –term contract will be excluded from the numbers which would trigger collective consultation (unlike at present). There will also be new ACAS guidance on key issues regarding collective redundancy consultation (we would hope that this will include guidance on the definition of an "establishment").
  • On 13 November 2012, the Government published its response to the flexible working and flexible parental leave proposals contained in its Consultation on Modern Workplaces, and confirmed its decision to proceed with the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees from 2014 (provided they have 26 weeks' continuous service).
  • The government has published its response to its consultation on how to implement the new "employee owner" status (now being called "employee shareholder" status). 92% of respondents to the consultation viewed the plans as negative or "mixed". Unemployed people may lose their benefits if they reject an offer of work on an employee shareholder basis. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that the government's proposed new status may cost the Treasury £1 billion a year in lost tax revenues: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a2d1c7d2-42fc-11e2-aa8f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2F2ylKgkn The government is still pressing ahead with the proposals in spite of all this.
  • A recent survey by CWjobs.co.uk has revealed that 77 per cent of 336 IT workers surveyed believe there are too few women employed in the industry, but 71 per cent of respondents oppose introducing quotas for a minimum number of female employees http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cio-insights/tech-workers-back-need-for-more-women-in-it-but-oppose-quotas/39749709?tag=content;siu-container 

What to expect in 2013:

  • Employee-owner status brought into force – 6 April 2013
  • Changes to collective redundancy consultation (see above) - April 2013
  • Employment Tribunal Fees – summer 2013 (exact date TBC)
  • New Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedures – summer/autumn 2013 (exact date TBC)
  • Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (including mandatory pre-claim ACAS conciliation, repeal of third party harassment, removal of discrimination questionnaires, introduction of public interest requirement for whistleblowing – in other words, an employee cannot blow the whistle about breaches of their own contract) – end of 2013
  • Responses to government consultations on TUPE and collective redundancy consultation
  • Also, watch out for our HR Forums on the following dates: 6th March, 30th April and 19th June. Further details will be provided in due course.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.