April is the biggest month in the world of work, being the time when new employment legislation comes into force.
And this April there has been no let up in regulation. The biggies for food and drink businesses are the scrapping of the default retirement age and changes to paternity leave. I will concentrate on the Default Retirement Age (DRA) for now.
From April 6 it begins to be phased out. Businesses are no longer able is to issue notices of retirement using the DRA procedure. In other words, the automatic retirement of employees at 65 is on longer legal.
Now, there are some caveats. If notification was given before April 5 employers can continue with the retirement process provided the employee reaches 65 by September 30 this year. And, although the DRA is being abolished from October 1, employers will be able to operate a compulsory retirement age if they can justify it. I suspect the majority in this industry would struggle to defend this at tribunal. You would need to show you were acting to further a legitimate aim of the business, and that the retirement action was necessary to achieve that aim.
The argument for scrapping the DRA is that it makes economic sense to utilise the expertise older workers may have to offer given skills shortages and changing labour markets. Pensions minister Steve Webb defends the law: "Many companies across a range of sectors report real business benefits in employing older workers as part of a mixed age force," he says. "Age is not an indication of whether someone is able to do their job well."
However, Charles Logan, director at recruitment firm Hays, says that relying on an ageing workforce to pick up the slack for an ill-trained younger workforce is not a long-term option. "With youth unemployment at an all-time high, it is clear more needs to be done to address the skills gap of the younger generation, enabling Britain to compete within the knowledge economies on a global scale," he says, calling for better consultation with business on what legislation is needed.
No doubt readers of this column will agree. But there is one piece of good news for all those fed up with ever-more employment legislation. The government has done a major u-turn on one proposal. The extension of the right to request flexible working to the parents of 17-year-olds has been withdrawn.
But don't breathe too much of a sigh of relief. The desire to offer the right to request flexible working to everyone is a key component of government thinking. It has only backtracked in light of the current economic situation.
As far as flexible working goes, to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger: "I'll be back".
And this April there has been no let up in regulation. The biggies for food and drink businesses are the scrapping of the default retirement age and changes to paternity leave. I will concentrate on the Default Retirement Age (DRA) for now.
From April 6 it begins to be phased out. Businesses are no longer able is to issue notices of retirement using the DRA procedure. In other words, the automatic retirement of employees at 65 is on longer legal.
Now, there are some caveats. If notification was given before April 5 employers can continue with the retirement process provided the employee reaches 65 by September 30 this year. And, although the DRA is being abolished from October 1, employers will be able to operate a compulsory retirement age if they can justify it. I suspect the majority in this industry would struggle to defend this at tribunal. You would need to show you were acting to further a legitimate aim of the business, and that the retirement action was necessary to achieve that aim.
The argument for scrapping the DRA is that it makes economic sense to utilise the expertise older workers may have to offer given skills shortages and changing labour markets. Pensions minister Steve Webb defends the law: "Many companies across a range of sectors report real business benefits in employing older workers as part of a mixed age force," he says. "Age is not an indication of whether someone is able to do their job well."
However, Charles Logan, director at recruitment firm Hays, says that relying on an ageing workforce to pick up the slack for an ill-trained younger workforce is not a long-term option. "With youth unemployment at an all-time high, it is clear more needs to be done to address the skills gap of the younger generation, enabling Britain to compete within the knowledge economies on a global scale," he says, calling for better consultation with business on what legislation is needed.
No doubt readers of this column will agree. But there is one piece of good news for all those fed up with ever-more employment legislation. The government has done a major u-turn on one proposal. The extension of the right to request flexible working to the parents of 17-year-olds has been withdrawn.
But don't breathe too much of a sigh of relief. The desire to offer the right to request flexible working to everyone is a key component of government thinking. It has only backtracked in light of the current economic situation.
As far as flexible working goes, to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger: "I'll be back".
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