A.84 Unfair dismissal qualifying period - The Government will increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one year to two years from April 2012.
A.85 Employment tribunal claims - The Government will require all potential claimants to submit their employment tribunal claim to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) so that early conciliation can take place.
A.86 Determination of claims - The Government will look at whether and how a 'Rapid Resolution' scheme to provide quicker, cheaper determinations in low-value, straightforward claims (such as holiday pay) could be introduced as an alternative to the current employment tribunal process.
A.87 Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations - The Government has launched a call for evidence on the effectiveness of the TUPE regulations protecting employees' rights and smoothing the process of business restructuring. Should the balance of evidence call for possible changes to the current regulations, there will be a formal consultation on any proposed changes in 2012.
A.88 Collective redundancy rules - The Government has called for evidence on the collective redundancy rules, including the consequences of reducing the current 90-day consultation period for over 100 redundancies to 60, 45 or 30 days.
A.89 Employment tribunal Rules of Procedure - Mr Justice Underhill will lead a fundamental review of the employment tribunal Rules of Procedure. In the meantime, the Government will change the rules on witness statements and expenses, cost and deposit orders and judges sitting alone in unfair dismissal cases.
A.90 Mediation - The Government will work with industry and key stakeholders to change attitudes to mediation and embed it as an accepted part of the dispute resolution process. As a first step, the Government will explore with large businesses in the retail sector how they might share their mediation expertise with smaller businesses in their supply chain. The Government will also pilot local mediation networks for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
A.91 Financial penalties - The Government will introduce a provision for employment tribunals to levy a financial penalty on employers found to have breached employment rights (payable to the Exchequer), but will allow judges the discretion about whether to exercise this power to ensure that employers are not penalised for inadvertent errors.
A.92 Compromise agreements - The Government will develop a model agreement for use by smaller businesses, consult on a legislative change to enable compromise agreements to cover all existing and future claims, and rename agreements as 'settlement agreements'.
A.93 Protected conversations - Subject to consultation, the Government will introduce a system of 'protected conversations' which will allow employers to have a conversation about any employment issue with their employees.
A.94 Employment tribunal fees - The Government will shortly publish a consultation on the introduction of fees for anyone wishing to take a claim to an employment tribunal.
A.95 Dismissal processes - The Government will begin a call for evidence on two proposals for radical reform of UK employment law. First, the Government will seek views on the introduction of compensated no-fault dismissal for micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Second, the Government will consider how it could move to a simpler, quicker and clearer dismissal process, potentially including working with ACAS to make changes to their code or by introducing supplementary guidance for small businesses.
A.96 Employment and recruitment sector - The Government will consult in spring 2012 on streamlining the current regulation of the recruitment sector.
A.97 First employee support - The Government will work to remove common misconceptions about the burdens of employing staff for sole traders considering taking on their first employee.
A.98 Agency Workers Directive - The Government will examine the paperwork obligations of the Agency Worker Regulations in 18 months' time to ensure that the practical arrangements for employers are as simple as possible.
A.99 Whistle blowing loophole - The Government will close a loophole in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which enables employees to blow the whistle about breaches to their own personal work contract.
A.100 National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations - The Government will merge the current body of NMW regulations into a single set of consolidated regulation, to complement the work of the Low Pay Commission in considering simplification of the current regime.
A.101 Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks - The Government will deliver universal portability of CRB checks with an immediate checking service for employers via an online facility available from 2013.
A.102 The Black/Frost Independent Review of Sickness Absence - The Government will consider the recommendations of the review published on 21 November 2011, and will respond in 2012.
A.103 Implementation of EU Directives - The Government is publishing a report which includes 16 specific cases, highlighted by businesses, for EU regulatory reform to improve UK business growth. These cases reinforce UK aims to reduce the overall EU burden, foster EU innovation, complete the internal market and remove gold-plating. The Government is continuing to work to reduce the burdens imposed by EU regulations. Directives include: the Clinical Trials Directive; Classification Labelling and Packaging of Chemicals; the Working Time Directive; Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals; proposals related to the Posting of Workers Directive; the Air Quality Directive; National Emissions Ceilings; and the freshwater legislative framework.
A.104 Review of regulators - The Government will: launch a review of regulators; extend the Primary Authority scheme; impose sunset clauses on new regulators; and move towards greater co-regulation and earned recognition for businesses to ensure that enforcement arrangements are appropriate, proportionate, ft for purpose and risk-based.
A.105 Health and safety regulations - The Government has accepted the recommendations of Professor Löfstedt's review of health and safety regulation including:
• exempting self-employed people posing no risk to others from health and safety legislation;
• simplifying guidance and codes of practice;
• taking measures to ensure businesses see consistent and predictable regulation across the UK including a power for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to direct all local health and safety regulatory activities;
• the HSE taking steps to clarify the legal position of businesses to ensure they are only held accountable for those things they can realistically manage; and
• the HSE negotiating a risk- and evidence-based approach to health and safety regulation with the EU.