Employment Alert No. 166: Employment Law Changes Taking Effect in October 2009
October 6, 2009
The key changes that employers should be aware of are as follows:
With effect from 1 October 2009
- The maximum amount permitted for calculation of a week.s pay will rise from £350 to £380. This weekly maximum is used to calculate statutory redundancy payments and basic awards for unfair dismissal, among other things.
This means that for redundancy dismissals taking effect onor after 1 October 2009 the maximum statutoryredundancy payment will now be £11,400.
Employers should note that if an employee is given noticeprior to 1 October 2009 but the notice period will expireon or after 1 October 2009, then this new limit will apply. Also, if an employee is paid in lieu of notice, in most casesthe effective date of termination will be the actual date oftermination plus the amount of statutory notice applicableto the employee. If the statutory notice would take theeffective date of dismissal to or beyond 1 October 2009,then the new limits will apply.
- The national minimum wage will rise to £5.80 per hour for adults, £4.83 for 18 to 21 year olds and to £3.57 for 16 and17 year olds.
- A new notification fee of £500 will be payable in order forprivate sector organisations with a turnover of at least£25.9 million and 250 or more staff to register as a datacontroller.
- With effect from 12 October 2009, the Vetting andBarring scheme for checking suitability of potentialemployees to work with children and vulnerable adultslaunches.
