Glasgow Business . 43
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
BUSINESS CLINIC EMPLOYMENT LAW
›› ALAN PRICE, GROUP DIRECTOR OF PENINSULA, OUTLINES THE CHANGES BEING MADE TO UK EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION IN 2015 THAT COMPANIES NEED TO KNOW
Since 1983 Peninsula Business Services has been advising employers on employment law, HR and health and safety. In order for us to concentrate on growth
and service I wanted to ensure we have a base in Scotland, managed by local people who are aware of the obstacles that employers face, so businesses can benefit from our employment law and health and safety expertise. I am both pleased and proud to announce
our new office will be based in Skypark, Glasgow. It will enable us to service our existing clients as well as presenting a fresh opportunity to introduce our consultancy service to Scotish businesses. I would also like to take this opportunity
to outline new employment legislation being introduced in 2015 and how it may directly impact your business. If you require any further information, or you have any HR or employment law-related questions that require clarification or advice, then please call 0800 028 2477 and reference GLAS001. Te most significant change for parents
since the introduction of maternity and paternity leave will take effect in 2015. Tis is not the only family-oriented change to be seen this year and, in fact, it appears that 2015 is the ‘year of the family’, with parents – both natural and otherwise – being given more rights than ever before to take time off work in relation to their family plans. Tere was a time last year when the
future of Scotish employment law was in the balance. Te opposite result in the referendum would almost certainly have seen a different employment law path being
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If you would like any further information on the above, or you have an HR or employment law-related question that requires immediate attention then please call 0800 028 2477 and reference GLAS001. We are excited for our new beginning in Glasgow and look forward to working closely with Scottish businesses in the future.
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taken for employers in Scotland. Scotland would no longer have been obliged to take on the decisions of the English Government and the Scotish Government had already set out plans to remove some recently adopted laws. However, for the time being at least, employment law will, in the main, apply equally as it does in the rest of the UK. Shared parental leave is a new system for
taking time off when a baby is born which will run alongside the existing maternity and paternity leave entitlements. If both parents meet certain eligibility criteria, they will be able to share almost one year’s leave between them, in a patern that is decided, mostly by themselves. One of the criteria is that a baby must be due on or aſter 5 April 2015 for parents to qualify to take leave in this flexible way. An important aspect of the qualifying criteria is that both parents must individually meet their own criteria in order for the other parent to take shared parental leave. Shared parental leave may also be taken
by employees who are adopting a child on or aſter 5 April 2015, again subject to criteria. Tis is not the only legal change in relation to adoption entitlements. Te requirement for an adoptive parent to work for their employer for at least six months before they become entitled to take statutory adoption leave will be removed from April, aligning it with the right to take maternity leave. Statutory adoption pay will also be
increased for the first six weeks of leave to 90 per cent of the employee’s wage, with the remaining leave being paid at the statutory rate
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(currently £138.18 per week). Also in April, the entitlement to take
statutory adoption leave will be widened to include intended parents who receive a child in a surrogacy arrangement and local authority foster parents who are prospective adopters. Employees who are adopting will have a right to take time off work to atend adoption appointments – one of the couple will be able to take paid leave, the other will take unpaid leave. Parents will be able to take statutory
parental leave (unpaid leave to be taken in blocks of one week in order to spend time with children) up to their child’s 18th birthday from April. Currently, it is only permited until the child’s fiſth birthday. Statutory maternity, adoption and
paternity pay is expected to increase to £139.58 from April, and statutory sick pay (SSP) is expected increase to £88.45. Although the following have not yet been
confirmed, it is expected that the National Minimum Wage will increase from October 2015, and regulation over the use of zero hours contracts will be introduced.
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