Employment Law Calendar

Key dates for Employment Law in the UK

• 1 October 2010 – Minimum Wage was increased to £5.93 per hour. For the first time, there was also an apprentice minimum wage of £2.50 per hour introduced.

• 1 October 2010 – Full Minimum Wage was extended to workers at age 21. The 2010 NMW Regulations bring the age for the full rate of NMW down from 22 to 21.

• 21 October 2010 – Government consultation closed on the scrapping of the Default Retirement Age.

• 1 February 2011 – Redunancy pay increased, from £380 to £400.

• February 2011 – Low Pay Commission due to report recommendations for October 2011.

• 3 April 2011 – Law on Additional Paternity Leave came into force.

• 5 April 2011 – This was the last possible date for employers to have given notice of retirement; the Default Retirement Age is now scrapped.

• 11 April 2011 – Statutory Sick Pay increased from £79.15 to £81.60 per week.

• 11 April 2011 – Statutory Maternity Pay, Paternity Pay, and Adoption Pay increased from £124.88 to £128.73 per week.

• 20 April 2011 – Consultation on employment tribunal reforms closes.

• 1 October 2011 – Agency Workers Directive comes into force.

• 1 October 2011 – The Default retirement Age will no longer be available to employers. ‘Employer Justified Retirement Ages’ will be permissible, but these will need to be objectively justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

• 1 October 2011 – National Minimum Wage will increase to £6.08 per hour (a 15p / 2.5% increase on 2010 levels).

• April 2015 – Time to Train policy’s future to be known & in place.