Lagat Apprenticeships Blog

Some latest HR related announcements.
From October 2011, the National Minimum Wage will increase: _

The National Minimum Wage is to increase by 15p an hour to £6.08 in October, benefiting almost a million workers, the Government has announced.
Ministers said they had accepted recommendations from the Low Pay Commission, giving a new adult rate of £6.08, while the statutory wage for 18-20-year-olds will increase by 6p to £4.98 an hour. The rate for 16-17-year-olds will increase by 4p to £3.68 an hour and the rate for apprentices will increase by 10p to £2.60 an hour.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "More than 890,000 of Britain's lowest-paid workers will gain from these changes. They are appropriate, reflecting the current economic uncertainty while at the same time protecting the UK's lowest-paid workers.

Default Retirement Age

The Coalition government announced on 13 January 2011 that the default retirement age would be abolished with effect from 1 October 2011. The procedures as set out in Schedule 6 of the Age Regulations, which gives employees the right to request to work beyond retirement age and the employer a duty to consider, will also be repealed from 6 April 2011.

Employers will still be able to operate an independently determined compulsory retirement age after the DRA has been fully abolished, although they will have to objectively justify it. A compulsory retirement age will have to demonstrate a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Employers wishing to retain a compulsory retirement age will therefore have to consider the matter very carefully and ensure that they have a legitimate basis for doing so coupled with good evidence. Even where an employer is able to identify a legitimate aim, the test will also require them to consider whether there are less discriminatory ways of achieving that same aim.

Transitional Provisions
The last day for an employer to give six months notice is 30 March 2011. If the intended retirement age is before 1 October 2011 and the right to request procedure is followed, then dismissal on the grounds of retirement will be automatically fair and not discriminatory.
Between 1 April 2011 and 5 April 2011 employers can use the short notice provision to give less than six months’ (but more than 2 weeks’) notice. If the intended retirement age is before 1 October 2011 and the employer considers any request to continue working, dismissal on the grounds of retirement will be potential fair.


More to come as news becomes available.