June sees a number of employment law changes coming into force that will affect employers’ policies and procedures. Employers must review and update their policies and procedures to ensure that they remain compliant. Personnel Today sets out three things that employers need to know about the changes.
1. Qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims over political opinions removed
From 25 June 2013, the two year-qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will not apply where the alleged reason for dismissal is, or relates to, the employee’s political opinions or affiliations.
- See XpertHR’s policy on political activity in the workplace
- Can an employee be dismissed for being a member of an extreme political party, for example the BNP?
2. Public interest disclosures no longer required to be in good faith
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From 25 June 2013, a disclosure will not be protected unless it is, in the reasonable belief of the worker making the disclosure, “in the public interest”. Accordingly, an employee who “blows the whistle” about breaches to his or her own employment contract will not normally be protected. The requirement that a protected disclosure must be made in good faith is removed from the same date. However, if it appears to an employment tribunal that a protected disclosure was not made in good faith, the tribunal may reduce a worker’s compensation by up to 25%.
3. Update Service launched by Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
From 17 June 2013, the DBS Update Service will allow employers to check the status of criminal record checks online.
