New Year, New Laws: A Rundown of New Employment Laws in the UK in 2015

Jan 06, 2015

Written By Billy Sexton, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

2014 saw many laws introduced in the UK. Some of which were more notable than others, namely the bans on what sex acts could and couldn’t be shown in UK produced pornography. This resulted in a face-sitting protest outside Parliament and banners being brandished including the terms “Squirt Doesn’t Hurt”.

Perhaps less reported on in the media was the fact that it finally became legal to rip CDs and transfer the music to your iPod (other MP3 players are available). “What?! You mean to tell me that I’ve been breaking the law by putting music I physically purchased on to a digital media player?” That’s precisely what we’re telling you, you criminal! But don’t worry, it’s highly likely that many other people who have purchased CDs in the last decade or so have done the same.

But what’s on the horizon in 2015? With all these new, revolutionary and, quite frankly, cutting edge laws on music, you might even be able to record Top of the Pops over a blank cassette. Ha-de-hah!

In all seriousness, there are some laws that are coming into effect in 2015 that will affect some key areas of law. Let’s kick off with employment law.

Shared Paternity Leave

Parents will be able to share parental leave for the first year after a child is born or adopted.

Mothers are still granted the initial two weeks leave following the birth of the child, but following this they now have the option to end the paternal leave or share the remaining leave with the other parent. The husband or partner is also allowed unpaid time off to attend up to two ultrasound scans.

In effect, parents are essentially given a chunk of time to divide between themselves as they wish, allowing for a lot more flexibility. It will inevitably effect employer-employee relations, but there should remain a process of constant communication between the two parties with the parents confirming their eligibility for shared leave and the employer making necessary preparations. However, lawyers could get involved if employers don’t comply and a dispute arises.

Staying in Education or Training

2015 is also the year in which it becomes necessary for young people to stay in education or training until the age of 18. This basically means that a supermarket would be unable to hire a 17-year-old straight from school to work full-time on the checkouts, unless it was part of an apprenticeship.

This is aimed to arm school leavers with relevant skills that will allow them to secure a job once they leave school. But what happens if a young person, for whatever reason, has been unable to secure a place in further education or training? Are they breaking the law? Not necessarily. It would simply mean that they are NEET – Not in Employment, Education or Training. It would be the employer who would be breaking the law if they employed somebody under the compulsory school leaving age – they should therefore put in measures to ensure that the recruitment process filters out those who are not legally allowed to work without being in education or training.

This situation has resulted in a growth in apprenticeships or school leaver programmes dedicated to applying some form of training to roles that may not have required training in the past. For example, major supermarkets are already offering retail apprenticeships.

Party Politics

Of course, 2015 is a difficult one for new laws, given that there’s the small matter of a general election occurring in May. With the government looking likely to be different (either slightly or wholly) come the fifth month of the year, laws can be predicted by taking a snoop at the main parties’ policies.

The Conservatives are looking to ban exclusivity clauses in the controversial zero hour contracts. They’ll also create three million apprenticeships, subsidised by benefits cuts. They’re also looking to push through legislation that will make caste discrimination a form of race discrimination, therefore related to workplace equality.

Labour are taking a tougher line that the Tories on zero-hour contracts, intending to ban them altogether if they find themselves on the right side of the chamber. They’re also going further than David Cameron and co. on apprenticeships, by aiming that as many young people will go on to apprenticeships as currently go to university by 2025. Ed Miliband also wants the National Minimum Wage to increase to £8 per hour by 2020.

Employment law is a very fluid area of law, with new and changed regulations being introduced frequently; 2015 doesn’t look to buck that trend.

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