Employment Law Announcement January 2013

The Government made a number of announcements on its ongoing employment law reform programme on 17th January 2013. Three new consultation papers and two responses have been published. Key developments include:

• The unfair dismissal compensatory award will be capped at the lower of one year’s pay and the existing limit.
• Acas will shortly publish a draft statutory code of practice on how settlement agreements will operate once the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill has been enacted.
• A consultation on extensive changes to TUPE 2006, including the removal of the service provision change provisions.
• Proposals to simplify the regulation of the recruitment sector by repealing the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/3319) and replacing them with a new regulatory framework.
• Tackling long-term sickness absence by implementing most of the recommendations contained in the 2011 report, Health at work: an independent review of sickness absence.