Comment - Employment Law News Spring 2003

01 April 2003

The seemingly endless flow of employment regulation continues. As we go to print, new rules on a range of issues come into force. Perhaps most highly publicised of these are the latest "family friendly" rights which we cover in a little more detail on pages 2 (concerning maternity, paternity and adoption) and 3 (the right to ask for flexible working arrangements for the purposes of childcare).

So heavily regulated is employment now, that it is hard to believe that it was only five years ago that we had no legislation specifically on the theme of working time (and, lest we forget, that in turn meant employees had no prescribed minimum holiday entitlement), there was no minimum wage, unfair dismissal in most cases carried a two year qualifying service requirement, with compensatory awards in most cases being limited to a sum approaching just £12,000, and part-time workers and fixed-term employees did not have the explicit right to challenge being less favourably treated than their full-time and permanent counterparts.

On the collective side, the European Works Councils Directive had not been implemented in the UK, and trade unions did not have the right they now have, wherever there are 21 or more employees and prescribed levels of support, to be recognised for the purposes of collective bargaining on pay, hours and holiday.

And that, of course, is to mention just a few of the significant developments we have witnessed.

Have we now reached the point of balance between socially responsible worker protection, on the one hand, and business flexibility, on the other? It would seem not: set out on page 4 of this issue is just some of the legislation we can expect in the short and medium term. In this and future issues, we shall be aiming to keep you appraised of such key developments, including the extension of "employee" rights to the broader "worker" population, of the courts' evolving interpretation of relevant law and of much else beside. One thing appears certain: we shall not be wanting for news to report.

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