Pre-Budget Highlights The Chancellor delivered his Pre-Budget Report on Wednesday 9 December. It was a rather disappointing report and one that left many observers with the impression that difficult decisions have yet to be taken. For an overview of the points of interest for employers and employees arising out of the Pre-Budget Report please click here. Bankers' bonus bill To the dismay of bankers, in the wake of the Queen's speech mentioned in our November bulletin, the Chancellor has introduced the Financial Services Bill to Parliament. The bill contains provisions to regulate bankers' pay and bonuses with the aim that remuneration policies do not contribute to excessive risk taking. The bill will give the Financial Services Authority the power to prohibit specified types of remuneration in the interest of securing effective risk management and/or compliance with international standards, to "tear up" bankers' contracts if they breach such prohibitions and provide for clawbacks of payments made under void terms. The power to "tear up" bankers' service contracts sounds dramatic, but it will only apply to new contracts entered into after the bill comes into force. The interference by the State into contracts between private individuals will receive very mixed reactions in the current climate. Religious Belief versus Sexual Orientation Employers have often found themselves in difficulty when balancing conflicting legal rights of employees. Where legislation protects employees against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief, can there be an “opt out” for those who say they are unable to do their job because they wish to discriminate, even when that desire to discriminate derives from a religious belief? The answer in most cases is no. The Court of Appeal has upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal's (EAT) ruling that a Registrar at Islington Council, who was required to perform Civil Partnership ceremonies despite her strong religious beliefs that such unions were contrary to God's will, had not been subject to religious discrimination. The judgment makes it clear that in the context of people providing public services or performing public functions, such as Civil Partnership ceremonies, the desire of employees to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation due to their religious beliefs cannot generally "trump" the public's rights to receive services in a non-discriminatory fashion. Balancing an employer's commitment to equal opportunities against religious discrimination In line with the ruling above, the EAT has held that an employee who refused to abide by the employer's equal opportunities policy and provide psycho-sexual therapy to same sex couples because such relationships were contrary to his religious beliefs was fairly dismissed and not unlawfully discriminated against on the grounds of religion. The EAT confirmed that whilst the employer's requirement to commit to equal opportunities was capable of amounting to indirect discrimination against those who held such Christian beliefs, the employer was justified in this requirement since the employer had the legitimate aim of providing services equally to all users. There is an inevitable tension between some individuals' strongly held beliefs and what the employer may believe to be the right way to operate and provide services. This decision provides reassurance to those employers who, in line with their commitment to equal opportunities, insist on providing their services to all, irrespective of their employees' religious beliefs. However, there is an increasing tendency for employers to dismiss claiming breakdown in the relationship of trust and confidence between employer and employee. This concept is associated with constructive dismissal not active dismissals. It is not the correct reason for dismissal - the reason is conduct if the employee refuses to comply with the employer's equal opportunities policy. This is a reminder that employers should be careful when considering the reason for dismissal and the terminology used during the dismissal. Extended powers to investigate breaches of the Data Protection Act With the recent high profile security breaches by government officials, many will welcome the Information Commissioner's new enforcement powers under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. The new Act provides the Information Commissioner with the power to serve a government department or a designated public body with an "assessment notice" to enable him to establish whether the department or authority is complying with the data protection principles. Furthermore, the new Act permits the Information Commissioner to enter and inspect any premises named in an assessment notice where a data controller fails to comply with a requirement imposed under the assessment notice. Whether this power will be extended to all data controllers (i.e including those in the private sector) remains to be seen. Implementation of the recast European Works Council Directive - Have your say! Millions of workers across the EU have the right to information and consultation on company decisions at European level through their European Works Councils (EWCs). Workers in organisations with 1,000 employees across Europe where there are at least 150 in two or more Member States enjoy this right. The Government, in the hope of balancing the interests of employees and businesses, is seeking views on its proposals to implement the recast European Works Council Directive which Member States must implement by 5 June 2011. The aim of the Directive is to improve the efficiency and number of EWCs as the Government believes that effective employee involvement is important to business success. The areas on which views are sought include: how to approach pre-existing EWC agreements; how to deal with EWC agreements that are adapted following structural changes within the organisation or group; how to handle new definitions within the Directive including the definition of "information" and "consultation"; and what an EWC agreement should include. If you would like to participate in this consultation you must submit your response by Friday 12 February 2010. Responses can be submitted online via http://tinyurl.com/y9hro6o We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The areas on which views are sought include:
If you would like to participate in this consultation you must submit your response by Friday 12 February 2010. Responses can be submitted online via http://tinyurl.com/y9hro6o