2008 No. 3055

Terms And Conditions Of Employment

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2008

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 34 of the Employment Relations Act 19991, makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

This Order may be cited as the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2008 and shall come into force on 1st February 2009.

2

In this Order—

a

“the 1992 Act” means the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 19922; and

b

“the 1996 Act” means the Employment Rights Act 19963.

Revocation2

The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 20074 is revoked.

Increase of limits3

In the provisions set out in column 1 of the Schedule to this Order (generally described in column 2), for the sums specified in column 3 substitute the sums specified in column 4.

Transitional provisions4

1

The revocation in article 2 and the substitutions made by article 3 do not have effect in relation to a case where the appropriate date falls before 1st February 2009.

2

In this article “the appropriate date” means—

a

in the case of an application made under section 67(1) of the 1992 Act (compensation for unjustifiable discipline by a trade union), the date of the determination infringing the applicant’s right;

b

in the case of a complaint presented under section 70C(1) of the 1992 Act5 (failure by an employer to consult with a trade union on training matters), the date of the failure;

c

in the case of a complaint presented under section 137(2) of the 1992 Act (refusal of employment on grounds related to union membership) or section 138(2) of that Act (refusal of service of employment agency on grounds related to union membership), the date of the conduct to which the complaint relates, as determined under section 139 of that Act;

d

in the case of an award under section 145E(2)(b) of the 1992 Act6 (award to worker in respect of offer made by employer in contravention of section 145A or 145B of that Act7), the date of the offer;

e

in the case of an application made under section 176(2) of the 1992 Act8 (compensation for exclusion or expulsion from a trade union), the date of the exclusion or expulsion from the union;

f

in the case of an award under paragraph 159(1) of Schedule A1 to the 1992 Act9, where a worker has suffered a detriment that is the termination of the worker’s contract, the date of the termination;

g

in the case of a guarantee payment to which an employee is entitled under section 28(1) of the 1996 Act, the day in respect of which the payment is due;

h

in the case of an award of compensation under section 49(1)(b) of the 1996 Act by virtue of section 24(2) of the National Minimum Wage Act 199810, where a worker has suffered a detriment that is the termination of the worker’s contract, the date of the termination;

i

in the case of an award under section 80I of the 1996 Act11 (award of compensation relating to an application for contract variation), the date of the failure in relation to the application or of the decision to reject the application;

j

in the case of an award under section 112(4) or (5) of the 1996 Act12 (award in relation to unfair dismissal), the effective date of termination as defined by section 97 of that Act;

k

in the case of an award under section 117(1) or (3) of the 1996 Act13, where an employer has failed to comply fully with the terms of an order for reinstatement or re-engagement or has failed to reinstate or re-engage the complainant in accordance with such an order, the date by which the order for reinstatement (specified under section 114(2)(c) of that Act) or, as the case may be, re-engagement (specified under section 115(2)(f) of that Act), should have been complied with;

l

in the case of entitlement to a redundancy payment by virtue of section 135(1)(a) of the 1996 Act (dismissal by reason of redundancy), the relevant date as defined by section 145 of that Act14;

m

in the case of entitlement to a redundancy payment by virtue of section 135(1)(b) of the 1996 Act (lay-off or short-time), the relevant date as defined by section 153 of that Act;

n

in the case of entitlement to a payment under section 182 of the 1996 Act (payments by the Secretary of State), the appropriate date as defined by section 185 of that Act;

o

in the case of a complaint presented under section 11(1) of the Employment Relations Act 199915 (failure or threatened failure to allow the worker to be accompanied at the disciplinary or grievance hearing, to allow the companion to address the hearing or confer with the worker, or to postpone the hearing), the date of the failure or threat;

p

in the case of an award made under section 38(2) of the Employment Act 200216 (duty to give a written statement of initial employment particulars or of particulars of change), the date the proceedings to which that section applies were begun;

q

in the case of an increase in an award in pursuance of section 38(3) of the Employment Act 2002, the date the proceedings to which that section applies were begun;

r

in the case of a complaint presented under regulation 15 of the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 200217 (failure or threatened failure to allow an employee to be accompanied at a meeting or to postpone the meeting), the date of the failure or threat;

s

in the case of a complaint presented under paragraph 11(1) of Schedule 6 to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 200618 (failure of employer to comply with duty to notify employee of date on which employer intends employee to retire or of right to make request not to retire on the intended date), the date of the failure; and

t

in the case of a complaint presented under paragraph 12(1) of Schedule 6 to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 200619 (failure or threatened failure to allow an employee to be accompanied at a meeting, to allow the companion to address the meeting or confer with the employee, or to postpone the meeting), the date of the failure or threat.

Pat McFaddenMinister of State for Employment Relations and Postal AffairsDepartment for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform

SCHEDULE

Article 3

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Column 4

Relevant statutory provision

Subject of provision

Old limits

New limits

1

Section 145E(3) of the 1992 Act20

Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership or activities, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining.

£2,900

£3,100

2

Section 156(1) of the 1992 21

Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of section 152(1) or 153 of the 1992 Act.

£4,400

£4,700

3

Section 176(6A) of the 1992 Act22

Minimum amount of compensation where individual excluded or expelled from union in contravention of section 174 of the 1992 Act and not admitted or re-admitted by date of tribunal application.

£6,900

£7,300

4

Section 31(1) of the 1996 Act

Limit on amount of guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day.

£20.40

£21.50

5

Section 120(1) of the 1996 Act23

Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of section 100(1)(a) and (b), 101A(d), 102(1) or 103 of the 1996 Act.

£4,400

£4,700

6

Section 124(1) of the 1996 Act

Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal.

£63,000

£66,200

7

Paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 186(1) of the 1996 Act

Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of a debt to which Part XII of the 1996 Act applies and which is referable to a period of time.

£330

£350

8

Section 227(1) of the 1996 Act24

Maximum amount of “a week’s pay” for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal.

£330

£350

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order increases, from 1st February 2009, the limits applying to certain awards of employment tribunals, and other amounts payable under employment legislation, as specified in the Schedule to the Order.

Under section 34 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, if the retail prices index for September of a year is higher (or lower) than the index for the previous September, the Secretary of State is required to change the limits, by Order, by the amounts of the increase (or decrease). The increases made by this Order reflect the increase in the index from September 2007 to September 2008.

The increases apply where the event giving rise to the entitlement to compensation or other payments occurred on or after 1st February 2009. Limits previously in force under the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3570) are preserved by article 4 of the Order in relation to cases where the relevant event was before that date.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.