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BETTER REGULATION:
CONSULTATION ON COMMENCEMENT
DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT REGULATIONS
In
its report Employment Regulation: striking a balance
 , the Better
Regulation Task Force (BRTF) recommended that DTI and other Departments and
Agencies should, as far as possible, group together commencement dates of
employment policy changes, starting with the DTI. The Government agreed and said
it would consult on how best to do this, including how to handle regulation
originating from Europe.
There
are two options:
(a)
The first is to have set commencement dates, either annually,
twice-yearly or quarterly, on which all employment regulation will come into
force. In its report, the BRTF points to April, when tax and National Insurance
changes come in (6 April is the start of the tax year, but the date for
implementation of tax changes is usually in May, varies according to the date of
the Budget, and is not negotiable) and October, when any revisions to the
National Minimum Wage are made.
Since
2000, employment changes introduced by DTI have been made on 10 different dates
of the year. On top of this, there are changes brought in by other Departments,
including tax and benefit rules which impinge on employers.
Set
dates mean that business and employees can plan better for the introduction of
new rules. Changes to pay and IT systems can be coordinated. Guidance to staff
will need to be revised less frequently. Employers need not have to be
constantly aware of what changes are coming in; they can focus on standard dates
each year. Training for managers and staff may be organised better.
However,
there may also be difficulties if the impact of new rules arises all at once. It
may be easier to change systems and processes gradually than in one large
step-change. It may be harder for
businesses and employees to absorb a large amount of information at one time.
The
problems may be different for small firms without HR and payroll support than
for large firms with in-house HR and payroll departments.
The
Government supports the concept of set commencement dates, providing that
business and employee groups are content. The question therefore is about how
many dates there should be per year. Having one date reduces the flexibility of
Government to respond to new circumstances and to do so in a timely manner. Four
dates may however remove many of the benefits that the BRTF envisaged when it
made its recommendation. Two dates could provide the right balance.
The
Government welcomes views on whether it should use set commencement dates and,
if so, how many each year and what dates are best for businesses and employees,
and why.
As
the BRTF acknowledged in its report, common commencement dates may be difficult
for European Directives that have to be implemented by a certain date.
By bringing in measures earlier than they need be, there will be less
time for business to prepare and they would also start to incur associated costs
at an earlier date than they might otherwise have had to. It is also necessary
sometimes (albeit rarely) to change regulations quickly in the light of
decisions made by the European courts.
EU
legislation contains its own deadlines for transposition into national law. The
Government believes that, when three years are allowed for implementation of
European legislation, it should be possible to use the same commencement dates
as for domestic legislation. When only two years are allowed, the process of
effective consultation and preparation for business may be unnecessarily
squeezed, unless the Government is deliberately late in implementation.
The
Government welcomes views on whether different arrangements are needed for the
implementation of European legislation than for domestic regulation.
(b)
The second
option is to keep the status quo, so that new employment rules may come into
force at any time in the year, but group changes together as far as possible. A
package of measures could be provided to enable businesses to be better
prepared. This package could include:
The
Government welcomes views on these and other measures to inform business and
employees more effectively about when new changes will be happening.
If
the principle of set commencement dates is accepted, then the Government will
consider which date or dates to use, based on the responses it receives to this
paper. It will also consider adopting the most popular measures to help business
and employees prepare for changes, regardless of decisions on set commencement
dates.
How
to Respond
Responses
to this consultation should be sent, by 30 January 2003, to:
Tim
Dadswell
UG86
1
Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
Tel: 020
7215 3944
Fax: 020
7215 0227
Email: tim.dadswell@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Responses
may be made available publicly in whole or in part at the Department’s
discretion. If you do not want part or any of your response to be made public,
please state this in your response and we will respect this. Where confidentiality is not requested, responses may be made available
to any enquirer, including those outside the UK, or published by any means.
This
document applies to GB only.
URN
02/1286
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