In force from today are a number of legislative changes which will be of interest to employers. These include the new right to request time off to train and the replacement of sick notes with “fit notes”. Also expected to come into force today are various regulations relating to additional paternity leave which will affect parents of babies born or expected to be born on or after 3rd April 2011 and parents who are notified of having been matched for adoption on or after that date. For the moment, however, they still appear in their draft form but will no doubt come into force shortly.
New right to request time off to train
From 6 April 2010 employees working for employers with 250 or more employees have a new right to request time off to train. As from 6 April 2011, the right will extend to all employees, regardless of the size of their employer. The right will be available to employees only (not to other “workers”) and is subject to a qualifying period of service of 26 weeks. Employers are required to consider all requests seriously and follow a prescribed procedure. They may only refuse a request if they think that one of a number of specified business reasons set down in section 63F(7) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 apply. An employee whose application is refused can bring a claim before an Employment Tribunal but their remedies are limited to compensation of up to eight weeks’ pay and/or an order for the employer to reconsider the application.
For more information see the Government’s business link website.