1 Hotel cover.indd - Nicola Cottam

Key Issues: Legislation: Employment law
Also on 6 April, two sets of employee consultation regulations will apply to employers with as few as 100 employees
for the first time. These are first, the general information and consultation regulations entitling employees
to require their employers to set up a company works council or equivalent, and second, the special pension
consultation regulations requiring 60 days information and consultation before an employer makes changes in
an occupational pension scheme.
Also the existing right to request “flexible working” will be extended to employees who are caring for adult relatives.
At the moment, only parents of young children qualify for this right.
On 1 July 2007 the English smoking ban comes into force under the Health Act 2006. ‘No Smoking’ signs will have
to be displayed and designated smoking rooms for staff will become illegal. Vestigial outdoor smoking shelters
will be allowed. Not only will employers have to ensure that smoking by their own staff is properly policed but
they will also need to take the same steps in respect of their customers. So there is the potential for staff to suffer
from additional stress resulting from abuse or even the possible risk of violence from customers unhappy about
having to put their cigarettes out.
Employers may also face pressure from employees to allow them paid time off for smoking breaks now they can
no longer smoke in their work places. This is not anything that the new law makes provision for, so employers
need not feel under any legal or indeed moral obligation to make such a concession. Employers would however be
well advised to ensure staff have access to the publicly available sources of advice about quitting smoking. Some
degree of workplace support for this is probably also desirable.
Then, on 1 October, the first stage of the increase in minimum paid holiday entitlement from 20 days to 28 days
under the Working Time Regulations will take place. Entitlement will rise to 24 days from 1 October 2007 with
a further increase to 28 days to follow on 1 October 2008. The aim of these provisions is to add the eight public
holidays to the existing right to four weeks paid annual leave.
Just before Christmas, the Employment Appeal Tribunal gave many employers good news when it ruled that
workers supplied by an employment agency and contracted to that employment agency should not normally be
held to be employees of the end-user for which they work. The outcome of the case James v. Greenwich Council
obviously is a great relief to users of agency labour. But there is a possible sting in the tail of the judgment, as the
judge suggested that Parliament might wish to change the law in this area.
Finally, employers in the sector should note that the Government seems to have as one of its priorities a clampdown
on the employment of workers who do not have full European Union rights to work, in tandem with increased
enforcement efforts on the national minimum wage. Employers should therefore endeavour to make sure that
they have sound procedures for checking and verifying papers, which establish any employee’s right to work as
well as ensuring compliance with national minimum wage obligations.
March 2007 Hotel Report Guide to UK Hotels l © William Reed Publishing 44