EHRC Technical Guidance Archives

Welcome to our Employment Law Newsletter. The Employment Rights Bill alone (announced in October) would give us plenty to discuss, but there’s plenty more for you in this issue.

What you’ll find in this issue of our newsletter:

We all knew to expect significant employment law changes from a Labour government. The detail of their plans was revealed in their Employment Rights Bill on 10 October and Luke Menzies summarises this pivotal legislation in the first of a series of blogs.
Details of the Consultations on key provisions of the Employment Rights Bill – your chance to have a say.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) 2023 came into force on 26 October 2024 placing a proactive a duty on employers to ‘take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment’ of employees in the course of their employment. It provides for an (up to 25%) uplift in compensation should an employer be found to have breached their duty. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have updated their technical guidance supporting the legislation which we’ve summarised for you.
6 recent employment cases and their implications for employers on topics like disability discrimination, constructive unfair dismissal, fire and re-hire and associative discrimination.
A reminder of the new National Minimum Wage increases for 2025 announced in the recent budget.

Until next time,

Best wishes from the Menzies Law team

New Employment Legislation:

The Employment Rights Bill was published on 10 October. Luke’s blog gives a summary of the bill’s key provisions – but should you feel the urge, you can read the background to the bill and the bill itself in full here.
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) 2023 is now in force, placing a proactive duty on employers to ‘take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment’ of employees in the course of their employment.

Employment Cases:

Cairns v Royal Mail Group, a disability discrimination case offers reminders to employers to consider all new information through the dismissal process, including at appeal
Constructive unfair dismissal is considered by the EAT in Nelson v Renfrewshire Council
The EAT in BA v Rollett confirms employees can bring a claim for indirect associative discrimination
English Nationalism does not qualify as a protected belief says the EAT in Thomas v Surrey Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Taylor’s Services Limited v HMRC clarified the rules around National Minimum Wage and travel time
The Supreme Court decision in the long running case of USDAW and others v Tesco

The Employment Rights Bill – Government Consultations:

The Government has now launched a series of consultations on key provisions of the Bill. All consultations close on 2 December 2024 so get cracking if you wish to share your views!

National Minimum Wage increases for 2025:

The Government announced the annual national minimum wage increases for 2025. From 1 April 2025, the minimum wage will increase as follows:

Age 21 and over – will rise from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour
Age 18-20 – will rise from £8.60 to £10 an hour
Apprentices – will rise from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour

This is a significant increase for under 21’s and what’s more, it’s the highest on record. It is the first step to achieving a planned single rate for all adults.

The accommodation offset will rise to £10.66 per day.

Tag: EHRC Technical Guidance

Newsletter 2024 Issue #3

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023