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In the introduction to last week’s newsletter, we referred to a tax tribunal decision that was likely to affect the way in which employers determine the start date of a maternity pay period. We have now been able to examine the ruling in detail and its implications do indeed require careful consideration. One unfortunate problem with the judgement is that the tribunal judge appears to have failed to apply his reasoning correctly in one aspect of the decision, but it is the reasoning around the relevant legislation that is significant, not the final outcome of the case.
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Posted October 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
There has been no substantive information provided by the Government for over 18 months on its promise to extend paid maternity leave to a year and introduce additional paternity leave. There have been lots of rumours, however, generally propounding the view that, in view of the economic problems faced by employers, the Government was having second thoughts about extending the existing paid leave entitlements.
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Posted September 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
On 3 September 2009, Advocate General Poiares Maduro delivered his Opinion in the case Susanne Gassmayr v Bundesministerin für Wissenschaft und Forschung. The Opinion of an Advocate General is usually a preliminary step in the procedures leading to the judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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Posted September 16th, 2009 | No Comments »
The Department for Business (BERR) has published two complementary booklets explaining the basics of maternity leave rights; one for employers and one for employees. The guidance includes coverage of the changes to entitlements during additional maternity leave that were introduced in October 2008, including the requirement for employers to make pension contributions during the period of paid leave.
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Posted June 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
In May 2008, in a detailed and controversial document entitled “Statutory maternity leave – salary sacrifice and non-cash benefits”, HMRC provided guidance for employers on their statutory obligation to maintain contractual benefits while employees are on maternity leave. Some of the guidance provided was contentious, not simply because the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) used HMRC to explain the employment law aspects of the maternity and adoption leave changes that were introduced in October 2008, matters that are outside of HMRC’s jurisdiction, but because it used tax and social security law definitions to support BERR’s interpretation of the employment law term “remuneration”.
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Posted April 26th, 2009 | Comments Off
Earlier in April 2009, the government began to consult on European Commission plans to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive. The UK already satisfies most of the improvements, although there are implications for how early maternity leave can start and the period of compulsory leave after the birth.
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Posted April 26th, 2009 | No Comments »
The European Commission published a proposal to amend the Pregnant Workers Directive in October 2008. The Directive sets out the minimum levels of maternity rights, including leave and pay, that EU member states must provide.
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Posted April 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
The Department for Work and Pensions has published all of the benefit rates that will apply from 6 April 2009. As with the recently-announced tax allowance and NICs threshold increases from that date, the rates are being increased by 5%, i.e. the rate of retail inflation at September 2008.
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Posted December 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »
On 3 October 2008, the European Commission published proposals that would amend the existing Directive by
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Posted October 13th, 2008 | No Comments »
We have an answer to the question about pension contributions for employees who are not entitled to any paid maternity leave. The contradictory legislation for adoption leave is not even mentioned and we still disagree with BERR’s interpretation of the term “remuneration”.
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Posted September 14th, 2008 | No Comments »
