Employment Law +

White paper on immigration

Lots of headlines around the government’s new white paper outlining immigration policies aimed at reducing net migration. The white paper sets out plans to reduce net migration and better link the country’s immigration system to the skills and training requirements in the UK economy, warning that uncontrolled migration poses a risk to UK productivity and economic growth. The plans include a stiffening of English language requirements for foreign workers, students and others seeking to settle in the UK under a family visa. Shara Pledger, head of our Global Immigration team, gives a full analysis of the impact of tightened policies on businesses and higher education on Out-law.

Survey shows one in four employers plan redundancies in the next three months

The CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook report surveyed 2,000 employers - 24% of them plan redundancies in the next three months. The report also reveals that over a quarter of employers, 27%, conducted a redundancy programme in the last 12 months. The report drew attention to its finding that the number of employers expecting to increase headcount in the next three months has fallen to a record low, outside of the pandemic. The CIPD commented, “From April, employers across the UK have begun to feel the full effect of increases to National Insurance Contributions and the National Living Wage outlined in last year’s budget. They’re also looking at the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on employments costs and plans, and this comes at a time of global uncertainty. Employer confidence is low which is being reflected in their hiring plans”. 

It was also widely reported this week that the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a cooling of the labour market. For example, employees on companies' payrolls fell by 47,000 in March and 33,000 in April whilst job vacancy numbers also fell by 42,000 compared to the previous quarter. As part of its analysis the CIPD repeated calls for a clear implementation timeline for the ERB alongside employer guidance and support. 

Customer not liable for unequal pay of outsourced workers

The EAT rejected a discrimination claim based on unequal pay brought by a supplied worker directly against a customer organisation. Cleaners supplied by contractors argued that they should be paid the same higher rates as directly employed customer staff. The Court of Appeal decided last year (in Boohene v Royal Parks Ltd) that any sex based discrimination claim about unequal pay should be brought against the supplier who directly employed the cleaner. This week another supplied cleaner’s appeal was unsuccessful following an Employment Tribunal’s initial rejection of her race discrimination claim against the customer (who paid its directly employed staff higher rates). Ms Djalo had argued that the EAT should distinguish the decision in Boohene by reference to the Human Rights and EU law. 

The current law on this point appears settled, with leave to appeal the Boohene decision to the Supreme Court having been refused last month. However, the ERB will require organisations to state which companies employers outsource from to motivate them to support efforts to improve equality and transparency. Further legislative measures may follow as the government has also called for evidence on introducing measures to ensure that outsourcing of services cannot be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay.

Feed in to our consultation response on disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting proposals

We’re seeking your views on disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting. Your responses to our online questionnaire will help us prepare a comprehensive response to the consultation on expanding mandatory pay gap reporting as part of the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. It will also help assess how developed employers’ policies around ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting currently are. We will share our responses and benchmarking analysis with participants. Please do take a few minutes to respond.

This page is updated weekly with News and Views from that week’s employment weekly briefing email. For previous articles, please contact us: Employment Law Plus.

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