7 February 2014: Here are some of the changes to employment law that are scheduled in 2014, mostly at the beginning of April.

Feb 2014: Changes to TUPE regulations which are boring but important if you tender for contracts. These include changes to:

allowing the provision of “employee liability information” within 28 days of, (previously 14 days before to), a transfer;
letting the new employer collectively negotiate agreed terms and conditions of employment 12 months after the date of the transfer;
the ability to start collective redundancy consultation before a transfer completes;
businesses with less than 10 employees being able to consult directly with employees (rather than with trade union or other elected representatives); and
updating the definition of “service provision change”

1 April 2014: The period available to employers for auto-enrolling eligible jobholders into a qualifying pension scheme increases from one month to six weeks on 1 April 2014.

6 April 2014: Statutory Maternity, Paternity etc pay increases. A weeks pay for redundancy payments is also due to increase.

6^th April 2014: New Tribunal claimants will have to refer the claim to ACAS and have the option of going through ACAS conciliation for a fixed period before the issue of proceedings in the Tribunal.

6^th April 2014: Statutory Discrimination Questionnaires to be done away with. Claimants will not for example be able to rely on a failure to fully answer questions in Tribunal proceedings. Answering questionnaires will therefore be optional.

6 April 2014: the right to request flexible working will cover all employees employed for 26 weeks or more. The statutory procedure to deal with the request will be replaced by a reasonable procedure.

April 2014: Employment tribunals will be able to impose financial penalties on employers which breach employment rights if there are aggravating circumstances.

TBC: The Health and Work Service to offer free occupational health assistance to employees, employers and GPs, including an independent assessment of employees who have been off sick for four (4) weeks or more.

1 October 2014: National Minimum Wage Increases

We will report on these changes in more detail nearer the time.

We are employment solicitors and lawyers based in Holborn, London WC1, just by Chancery Lane tube.