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PATRONS NEWS
THE MAGAZINE FOR BUSINESS LEADERS, MOVERS & SHAKERS
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April also heralds the withdrawal of Employment
Allowance for a year from any employers who are found to
have employed illegal workers.
In addition, the Fit for Work assessment service will be
scrapped at the end of March, as well as overhauling its
current fit note scheme – exact details as to who, other
than Doctors, will hold certification powers in the future is
still unclear.
May
The big one for May will be the government rolling out
the EU-approved General Data Protection Regulation
laws. Among the many new protocols will be the right
for individuals to be informed if their data has been
compromised and the right for them to have their
information deleted from search engines.
June
This is the month in which the EU’s Trade Secrets
Directive comes into play, giving greater protection
to Intellectual Property Rights. For businesses and
individuals, this will mean greater recourse in the event
that trade secrets are misappropriated, especially by a
member of staff.
Other Key Events in 2018
While it’s hard to see beyond the first months of 2018, there are
further changes to Employment Law expected, although their
absolute dates remain yet to be confirmed. However, if you’re
an employer or an HR professional, these are the upcoming key
events to keep an eye out for:
Grandparental Leave
A hot topic since Parental Leave was introduced in 2015,
Grandparental Leave will see parents able to assign part of their
maternity or family leave to grandparents, allowing them to return
to work more quickly. In addition, the move is hoped to encourage
grandparents to remain in work, rather than having to leave their
jobs in order to help their children with childcare.
Payment for Sleep-In Shifts
Towards the end of 2018, the clock will be ticking fast for
employers who have not yet chased up their obligations to the
Social Care Compliance Scheme. Launched in 2017, the scheme
gave employers until 2019 to identify and pay what they owe to
workers who may have been paid less than the minimum wage
for sleep-in shifts. Once the deadline has expired, employers will
have three months in which to make the outstanding payments,
or face legal action.
Brexit
Although this doesn’t come into effect until the
third month of 2019, employers will be watching
the continued negotiations regarding Britain’s
withdrawal from the European Union. While the
Settled Status agreement seems to have gained
some ground, the main issue for employers is
likely to be how the legislation for immigrant
workers will change.
The anticipated date for review of the rules will
be in 2021, which gives businesses three years
in which to begin recruiting and try and stay
ahead of the constantly-shifting Brexit sands.
2018 looks to be an important year for those
who have any dealing with Employment Law.
While the short-term changes are well worth
investigating, the long-term plans are the ones
that are set to have the greatest effects.