And finally a look forward to what’s happening in employment news for April 2018
Brian Gegg Partner
As part of its modernisation programme, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) has launched a new basic disclosure application route for individuals applying for jobs in England and Wales. Certificates should now be obtained directly from the DBS rather than from Disclosure Scotland which has previously provided them on behalf of the DBS. It is anticipated that this will result in faster turnaround times for certificates. Individuals who require a disclosure for a job in Scotland should continue to apply to Disclosure Scotland.
The Fawcett Society, a charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights, has published its nine-month review into sex discrimination law in the UK. This makes several recommendations for changes in employment law which could be implemented after Brexit. For example, the review proposes expanding the current gender pay gap reporting obligations to include reporting on the age, disability, ethnicity, sexuality and part-time status of workers; extending pregnancy and maternity discrimination protection to six months after maternity or parental leave; increasing the time limit for all pregnancy and maternity discrimination and harassment claims to six months; and making statutory maternity, paternity, and shared parental pay ‘day one’ rights for all workers. The Government has not yet indicated whether it will respond substantively to these recommendations.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published an article analysing the factors affecting men and women’s pay. This states that the gender pay gap has fallen from 10.5% in 2011 to 9.1% in 2017, but the gender pay gap for full time workers is entirely in favour of men for all occupations. The gap remains small at younger ages but from 40 onwards widens as women increase in age. The ONS suggests that only 36% of the gender pay gap can be explained by observing direct differences between men and women, including occupational differences, hours worked, or location. It also notes that further analysis would benefit from detailed information on family structures, education and career breaks.
In April 2017 HMRC began rolling out the tax free childcare scheme, which helps working parents meet the cost of childcare with up to £2,000 of support per child per year, or £4,000 for disabled children. On 15 January 2018, the scheme opened to parents whose youngest child is under 9, and from 14 February 2018 to all families with children under 12. This means that the roll-out process is now complete.
Official figures indicate that there has been a sharp decline in the number of apprenticeship starts since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. There were 48,000 new apprenticeship starts between May 2017 and July 2017, a 59% drop on the same period in 2016. A recent CIPD survey of over 1,000 employers has shown that only 17% of employers who pay the levy support the existing system, with 53% wanting it replaced by a training levy. Around 46% of employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy expect their organisation to simply rebadge existing training in order to claim back their allowance. The research also indicates that 22% of all employers still do not know whether they are liable to pay the levy, and 13% who know they will have to pay have not calculated what it will cost them. The CIPD report makes four key recommendations to Government: to reform the apprenticeship levy into a more flexible training levy; to run an awareness campaign to promote its benefits; to invest in HR support for small businesses; and to commission an urgent review of apprenticeship standards.
The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service have launched a consultation on the future of the Court and Tribunal estate. Reform will be based on three core principles: ensuring access to justice; providing value for money for taxpayers; and ensuring long term efficiency. The consultation highlights the need to improve the design and quality of buildings and to address the reduced demand for parties to attend court due to the increasing use of digital services. As part of this process, five separate consultations have been issued on proposals to close eight courts nationally. All consultations will close on 29 March 2018.