As part of the Atlas commitment to offering a quality service for our clients and candidates, we maintain a close watch on industry news, information and legislation. Recent and forthcoming issues are listed below:
Event |
Effective date |
|---|---|
| Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 The Act provides for the creation of a Gangmasters Licensing Authority, which sets up and operates a licensing scheme, sets licensing conditions and maintains a register of labour providers operating in the agriculture, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packaging sectors. The Act also creates new offences, including operating without a licence, engaging the services of an unlicensed gangmaster and using false documentation, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. View the Act. |
8 July 2004 |
| New employment tribunal forms The Employment Tribunals Service introduces new employment tribunal claim and response forms to make them more user-friendly. Use of the new forms does not become mandatory until 6 April 2005. View the draft forms. |
1 October 2004 |
| Disability (Pensions) Regulations 2003 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Pensions) Regulations 2003 amend the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of disability by trustees and managers of occupational pension schemes. View the Regulations. |
1 October 2004 |
| Working time limits for transport workers The Regulations, which implement the Road Transport (Working Time) Directive, control the number of hours drivers in the road transport sector are allowed to work. They limit working time to an average 48-hour week, normally calculated over a 4-month period (but calculated over a 6-month period, if subject to an agreement). A maximum of 60 hours can be worked in a single week, providing the average 48-hour limit is not exceeded. Night workers will also be restricted to 10 hours working time for any 24-hour period, although this can be altered by agreement. View the Consultation Document. |
23 March 2005 |
| Sexual and sex-related harassment legislation Legislation to comply with the Equal Treatment Directive comes into force. The Directive introduces a definition of sexual harassment that incorporates both sex-related harassment and sexual harassment. 'Sex-related harassment' is defined as 'where an unwanted conduct related to the sex of a person occurs with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment'. 'Sexual harassment' is defined as 'where any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment'. View the changes and amendments. |
5 October 2005 |
| Increases in the National Minimum Wage The National Minimum Wage has increased again from October 2007 The minimum wage is a legal right which covers almost all workers above compulsory school leaving age. There are different minimum wage rates for different groups of workers as follows: The main rate for workers aged 22 and over increased on 1 October 2007 to £5.52 an hour from £5.35 an hour The development rate for 18-21 year olds increased to £4.60 an hour from £4.45 an hour The development rate for 16-17 year old increased to £3.40 an hour from £3.30 an hour On 1 October 2007 the rate of the accommodation offset increased to £30.10 per week (£4.30 per day) from £29.05 per week (£4.15 per day). It is important to note that these new rates only apply to pay reference periods beginning on or after the date they came into law. From 1 October 2006, the Employment Equality (Age) regulations abolished the Older Workers Development Rate and remove the age limit on the apprenticeship exemption. |
1 October 2007 |
