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Employment Law Update November 2007
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Article bylined to Neil Tonks - Payroll & Legislation Advisor, MidlandHR
The Sex Discrimination Act is being updated to make changes to the maternity and adoption leave regulations to ensure the law is clear and unambiguous. The effect will be that there should be no distinction between entitlement to non-pay benefits during ordinary maternity leave (OML) and additional maternity leave (AML).
The changes are likely to extend all the non-pay contractual rights which a woman has during OML throughout her AML, including accrual of contractual annual leave. These rights would therefore apply to the full 52 weeks maternity leave entitlement as opposed to the first 26 weeks as now. However, the different rights of return to work which apply at the end of OML and AML respectively will not be affected.
Statutory Holiday Entitlement
This has now increased to 4.8 weeks from 1st October 2007 and will increase again to 5.6 weeks on 1st April 2009. These entitlements include bank holidays. Despite earlier proposals to the contrary, the same increases apply to Northern Ireland as for England, Scotland and Wales.
A useful set of frequently asked questions is available from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) website: http://www.berr.gov.uk/employment/holidays/faq
National Minimum Wage
Just a reminder that the rates changed on 1st October 2007.
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