Comments on the Government's Decision to Batch changes in Employment Law and to Announce them on set dates twice a year

The change in government policy on introducing changes in employment legislation should assist employers in planning their responses to such changes. Over the last few years, employment law has been one of the fastest changing areas of law and it has been difficult for employers to keep up with the constant flow of new legislation.

Whereas large employers benefit from the assistance of HR departments, for smaller employers who are involved in the running of the business as well as looking after staff, assimilating and implementing necessary changes is not always a practical proposition. It has also been difficult for smaller employers to know when to take advice as the timing for the introduction of new legislation has not been predictable.

The change to set dates for introducing new law will not reduce the volume of new rules employers have to comply with but will give them an opportunity to prepare in the knowledge that they cannot be taken by surprise. Advisers will be able to provide information at set times and employers will be in a position to seek advice just when needed.

The dates chosen are 6 April and 6 October each year. This year, the government is introducing for example new regulations for employment agencies in April and the long awaited statutory minimum discipline and grievance procedures in October. The latter will affect all employees and it is particularly important for employers to be aware of the impact of these provisions. They will mean that minimum steps have to be taken whenever a dismissal is carried out (even when the employee has only recently joined) or whenever an employee has a complaint about any aspect of his or her working conditions.

At Clarkson Wright &Jakes we have for many years run employment law seminars for employers and published up dates in order to keep them informed of developments which may affect them. With the new fixed dates, we are now able to schedule these services to coincide with the introduction of new legislation so our clients can derive the maximum benefit from them.