Key Employment Law Reforms Now In Force

We have reported on the Government's wide-ranging employment law reforms in recent bulletins. Now that many of these reforms have come into force, amendments may need to be made to precedents, policies, and procedures. By way of reminder, the key changes are listed below.

Changes in force from 25 June 2013

• Removal of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal where the reason for the dismissal is the employee's political opinions or affiliation.
• Fundamental changes to whistleblowing legislation. A disclosure will now only be protected where an employee reasonably believes that the disclosure is made in the public interest. The requirement for a disclosure to be made in good faith has been removed, although compensation can be reduced by up to 25% where a disclosure is not made in good faith. In addition, employers will be vicariously liable where a worker is subjected to a detriment by a colleague because they have made a protected disclosure, unless the