Employment Law Legislation changes from October 2009 1/10/09

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Changes from 1 October 2009:

National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase as follows:

  • Standard (adult rate) rate: £5.80 (rising from £5.73).
  • Development rate: £4.83 (rising from £4.77).
  • Young workers rate: £3.57 (rising from £3.53).
  • Accommodation offset rate: £4.51 (rising from £4.46).

Prohibition on using tips for NMW
Employers will be prohibited from counting service charges, tips and gratuities processed through their payrolls towards the payment of the NMW. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently working on a new industry code of best practice.

Maximum limit of a week's pay
The maximum limit of a week's pay will be increased from £350 to £380 and will affect all compensation payments to which the week's pay limit is relevant. The introduction of this one-off increase in October 2009 means the annual uprating of the limit in February 2010 will be suspended. The current limit will therefore remain unchanged until February 2011.

Supreme Court Rules 2009
The Supreme Court will replace the House of Lords as the highest appeal court in the UK. The Supreme Court Rules 2009 will govern the practice and procedure of the Supreme Court and will apply to appeals which were proceeding, and petitions for leave which were lodged in the House of Lords before 1 October 2009.  Scottish civil appeals will be heard by the Supreme Court, criminal appeals remain with the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal. 

Amendment to Information Commissioner's notification fees
The Data Protection (Notification and Notification Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 introduce significant changes to the fee structure for notification to the Information Commissioner's office by data controllers under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The current flat fee of £35 will be replaced with a two-tier structure as follows:

  • For a data controller in tier 1 the fee will be £35.
  • For a data controller in tier 2 (i.e. with an annual turnover of £25.9 million or more, and 250 or more members of staff, and public authorities with 250 or more members of staff) the fee will be £500.

Changes from 5 October 2009:
Points-based immigration: Phase 3 of Tier 4 (overseas students)
The UK Borders Agency has confirmed that phase 3 of Tier 4 of the points based immigration system will launch on 5 October 2009. Tier 4 applies to adult and child students who can apply under this category if they hold a visa letter from a sponsoring employer and can show that they have enough money to cover course fees and living costs. Phase 3 is the voluntary trial period of the sponsorship management system for Tier 4 sponsors. This trial period allows sponsors to continue using visa letters while gradually adopting the use of the sponsorship management system to issue confirmations of acceptance for studies. Confirmations of acceptance for studies will become mandatory in February 2010. Between 5 October 2009 and February 2010, sponsors will be able to issue confirmations of acceptance for studies, visa letters, or a combination of both to would-be students who are applying from within the United Kingdom. Would-be students applying from outside the United Kingdom will still have to apply with a visa letter until February 2010.

Changes from 12 October 2009:
Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults: vetting and barring
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 established the Independent Barring Board which has introduced a centralised vetting and barring system for people working with children and vulnerable adults. This will come into force on 12 October 2009 when the three current barring lists (POCA, POVA and List 99) will be replaced by two new lists: the "childrens" and "vulnerable adults" barring lists. Information from these will only be accessible by an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Also, with effect from 12 October 2009 the purposes for which an enhanced CRB check can be requested will be extended by to cover those carrying out regulated activities as defined by the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

The Scottish position remains unchanged pending the introduction into law of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (the PVG Scheme) in accordance with The Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The PVG Scheme will provide a new membership scheme for people who work with children and protected adults and will replace current disclosure arrangements for people whose post requires an enhanced disclosure. It will dovetail the systems introduced in England and is expected to be implemented in 2010 (an exact date is still to be determined). 

Further information
If you have any queries on issues raised in this legal update, or need advice on other employment-related matters, please contact  Alan Masson or Claire Hendry or your usual contact within the Employment Unit. 


This bulletin is for general information only and does not constitute legal, investment or other professional advice. Please contact us should you require advice on any particular legal issue. Anderson Strathern LLP accepts no responsibility for any loss that may arise if reliance is placed on any information or opinions expressed in this bulletin.