Employment Law updates
All young people in England will need to participate in education or training until the age of 18. 26 June 2015
A health and work assessment and advisory service is to be introduced, offering free occupational health assistance for employees, employers and GPs. The service can provide an occupational health assessment after four weeks of sickness absence. Further information is available from GOV.UK - Fit for Work guidance. Roll out during 2015
New regulation come into force to prevent claims of arrears of holiday pay going back more than 2 years. 1 July 2015
Families where both parents work and each earns less that £150,000 per year will be eligible to receive 20% of their yearly childcare costs of up to £2,000 for each child or £4,000 if the child is disabled. Autumn 2015
National Minimum Wage rate increase
Workers:
aged 21 and over - £6.70 per hour
aged 18-20 - £5.30
aged 16-17 - £3.87
Apprentices under 19, or over 19 and in the first year of the apprenticeship - £3.30 per hour. 1 October 2015
Employment
UK employment is still firmly on the up, a trend that has continued since late 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest labour market report.
For the period February to April 2015, 73.4% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work, up from 72.7% in the same period last year. The unemployment rate for the period was 5.5%, down from 6.6% a year ago.
The employment rate was the highest in the South-West (77.3%) and lowest in Northern Ireland (68.4%). The largest increase in workforce jobs was in the West Midlands (40k), while the largest decrease was in the South-East (32k).
Positive news also came from the Department for Work and Pensions. Figures just released show that wages have grown faster than at any point since 2007, with annual real wage growth now at 2.7%.
At the same time as the ONS released its statistics, the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) released its first monthly contingent labour workforce update. Based on ONS figures over the last year, it shows that over a fifth of the UK’s workforce work on a contingent basis, particularly those in the 16-24 and 50-64 age brackets.
Source ACAS
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