A busy year ahead

The planned changes to employment law are gathering pace with some fresh announcements from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills:

• from this summer the compensatory award for unfair dismissal will be capped at one year's pay, or the current limit of £74,200 (whichever is lower);
  
• TUPE will be amended, perhaps most significantly to remove service provision changes from the definition of a transfer. This will lead to fewer contracting out situations being TUPE transfers, but with the unwelcome side effect of increased litigation to decide when TUPE applies;
  
• Acas early conciliation will be introduced from April 2014;
  
• a new Health and Work Assessment and Advisory Service will be introduced in 2014. Its role will include providing state-funded occupational health testing for employees who are off sick for more than four weeks.

As busy employment law years go, we think this could be up there. So stay tuned.