This month sees an emphasis on Equality through a landmark equal pay agreement, a follow up to the Sexism in the City inquiry and a further inquiry into how paternity and shared parental leave in the workplace can actually work. Meanwhile, the CIPD has carried out research which finds our systems are currently failing to help young people prepare for working life. And lastly, a warning change to compensation levels where the statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement should be involved and some changes to the tribunal procedures.

• Equality: Equal pay deal reached for thousands of women in Birmingham
• Equality: HM Treasury, PRA and FCA respond to Treasury Committee questions about Sexism in the City inquiry recommendations
• Parental Leave: Women and Equalities Committee launches inquiry into paternity and shared parental leave
• Workforce: CIPD research finds half of employers believe young people are not ‘job ready’
• Tribunals: Failure to follow code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement has compensation consequences effective from 20 January 2025
• Tribunal Procedure: Changes to Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules from 6 January 2025

Equality: Equal pay deal reached for thousands of women in Birmingham

The BBC reported on 10 December that Birmingham City Council has reached a settlement with 6,000 staff members, mostly women, to end a long-standing dispute over pay inequality, with settlement payouts to be made after years of negotiations.

Birmingham City Council has reached a settlement with thousands of women in relation to their long-standing equal pay claims. The agreement, reached with the Unison and GMB unions, will see 6,000 staff members receive settlement payouts, bringing an end to the litigation that has run for many years. The issue of equal pay has been a major challenge for the council, with a bill of £760 million initially estimated to settle the claims. However, after several years of negotiations, a confidential agreement has been reached, which will be formally approved by the council’s cabinet on 17 December 2024.

The dispute centred around claims that staff in female-dominated roles, such as teaching assistants, have historically been underpaid compared to those in male-dominated positions. The GMB union has said that the settlement is a “significant step towards pay justice”. The settlement will also be a significant step forward for the council, which is reported to have paid out almost £1.1 billion in equal pay claims since 2012.

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Equality: HM Treasury, PRA and FCA respond to Treasury Committee questions about Sexism in the City inquiry recommendations

The House of Commons Treasury Committee has published letters containing responses from HM Treasury, the PRA (Prudential Regulation Authority) and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) relating to progress made against the recommendations set out in its report following its “Sexism in the City” inquiry.

On 10 December 2024, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published the following letters relating to its “Sexism in the City” inquiry, which provide information on progress made against its recommendations:

• FCA (dated 29 November 2024). The FCA has prioritised work on the link between non-financial misconduct (NFM) and its rulebook and intends to publish a final policy statement on NFM in early 2025. The FCA is working through the large volume of feedback that it received on proposals relating to data collection and target setting and intends to set out next steps jointly with the PRA in Q2 2025. It is exploring ways in which diversity and inclusion (D&I) reporting might be simplified and more joined up. In 2025, the FCA plans to strengthen its messaging to whistleblowers and better promote whistleblowing reporting channels. This will include providing clearer guidance for whistleblowers who are impacted by a non-disclosure agreement, but who wish to report to the FCA. The FCA also comments on how it uses whistleblowing data and the introduction of a new approach to final feedback to whistleblowers.
• PRA (dated 2 December 2024). The PRA acknowledges that developments in government policy (such as proposals for gender equality action plans and the plan for broadened pay gap reporting) may have an impact on its reporting and target setting proposals. It also comments on the removal of the bonus cap, reiterating the PRA and FCA expectation that firms should take care to avoid adverse impacts on pay gaps. The PRA states it will seek to review the impact of the bonus cap policy and whether it has affected gender pay gaps when sufficient evidence is available.
• HM Treasury (dated 9 December 2024). HM Treasury’s letter focuses on priorities for supporting the development of women in the financial services sector. It refers to the Women in Finance Charter, which will retain its focus on senior management.

The letters respond to requests for information sent by Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee.

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Parental Leave: Women and Equalities Committee launches inquiry into paternity and shared parental leave

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee launched an inquiry to examine options for reform of paternity and shared parental leave, and is conducting a call for evidence which lasts until 31 January 2025.

The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC), a Commons Select Committee, launched the inquiry into paternity rights and shared parental leave (SPL) on 6 December. The WEC believes that unequal division of childcaring responsibilities is a key driver of wider gender inequality and the gender pay gap. It wishes to examine options for reform of SPL and paternity leave with the aim of identifying the most effective ways of incentivising more equal sharing of childcare and wider domestic responsibilities between mothers and their partners.

The UK Parliament reports that: “MPs on the cross-party committee, chaired by Labour MP Sarah Owen, are seeking views on the schemes, via WEC’s inquiry page and through a survey, to help inform their work ahead of the Government’s proposed review of the parental leave system. The call for evidence forms part of WEC’s umbrella inquiry into Equality at work.

The Government has set out measures in the Employment Rights Bill to enhance family-friendly rights at work but has stopped short of fundamental changes to maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave and pay.

Instead, it has acknowledged that ‘the current parental leave system does not support working parents’ and has committed to conduct a ‘full review’ as the first stage of longer-term reform. Unequal division of childcaring responsibilities is a key driver of wider gender inequality and the gender pay gap.”

The WEC is conducting a call for evidence which lasts until 31 January 2025. Submissions are specifically requested on any of the following matters:

• The extent to which SPL has given parents choice and flexibility in how they share parenting responsibilities.
• The longer-term equality impacts and labour market impacts of SPL, particularly for women.
• Reasons for low take-up of SPL and possible solutions.
• Addressing inequalities in SPL take-up (including inequalities related to ethnicity, income, education and occupational status).
• Alternatives to the current “maternal transfer” model of SPL.
• Lessons from other countries.

A government evaluation of SPL in 2023 revealed very low uptake. A more recent analysis by campaign group The Dad Shift has highlighted that SPL uptake is heavily skewed against lower earning families.

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Workforce: CIPD research finds half of employers believe young people are not ‘job ready’

Reported by People Management on 4 December 2024, apparently half (52 per cent) of UK employers say young people entering the workforce are generally not ‘job ready’, citing significant gaps in workplace skills and social adaptability, according to a new study from the CIPD. The Changing face of the youth labour market report also revealed that just over a quarter of employers (28 per cent) that hired a young person aged 16-24 in the past year felt they were well prepared for the demands of the workplace. Among the most significant challenges identified by employers were behavioural issues, with 71 per cent stating young people often did not know how to behave in professional settings. Similarly, 64 per cent of employers said young workers “lack important social skills”, while a third (34 per cent) identified communication difficulties as a key barrier to success.

Employers also noted differences in managing young workers compared to previous generations, with more than half (56 per cent) saying young workers were harder to manage. This generational shift has heightened the need for policies and initiatives to better prepare young people for the realities of working life.

The report highlighted a dramatic decline in opportunities for young people to combine earning and learning, which has significantly impacted their readiness for work. Despite government efforts to promote apprenticeships, just 6 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds are currently participating in one – a figure that has not changed in 20 years. In 2024, only 20 per cent of 16 to 17 year olds were combining earning and learning, down from 42 per cent in 1997, while, for 18 to 24 year olds, the figure dropped to 34 per cent from 40 per cent over the same period. Furthermore, the number of 16 to 24 year olds who had never held a job, excluding seasonal or holiday work, has risen by nearly a third over the past two decades.

To address these issues, the CIPD is calling on the government to introduce an apprenticeship guarantee for all 16 to 24 year olds. This initiative, which is supported by nearly 90 per cent of employers according to previous CIPD research, aims to create more vocational routes into employment while helping young people build crucial workplace skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving.

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Tribunals: Failure to follow code of practice on dismissal and re-engagement has compensation consequences effective from 20 January 2025

The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment of Schedule A2) Order 2024 (SI 1272/2024) has been made and is due to come into force on 20 January 2025. Section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA 1992) gives an employment tribunal power to increase or reduce any award it makes by up to 25% for any unreasonable failure to comply with the provisions of a relevant statutory code of practice in respect of any of the heads of claims listed in Schedule A2 to TULRCA 1992. The Order, which was published in draft in October 2024, amends Schedule A2 to add section 189 of TULRCA 1992 to take account of the statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement (Code).

The effect of the order is that, if a successful claim is brought under section 189 of TULRCA 1992 for a protective award, an employment tribunal can increase or reduce any award by up to 25% if a party has unreasonably failed to comply with the Code or another applicable code of practice.

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Tribunal Procedure: Changes to Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules from 6 January 2025

On 6 December 2024, the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 (SI 2024/1155) (‘ETPR’) and the Employment Tribunals (Procedure Rules) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1156) (‘Amendment Regulations’) were laid before Parliament. The Amendment Regulations will remove the current ET Rules from Schedule 1 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1237) (‘ET Regulations’) and bring the ETPR into force in their place on 6 January 2025.

The ETPR introduce two new rules to give the tribunal greater flexibility to delegate functions of a judicial nature to legal officers (rule 7), and expressly give the Presidents of the tribunals the power to prescribe claim and response forms by Practice Directions, instead of the Secretary of State (rule 9). Amendments have also been made to the following rules:

• Rule 42 (replacing current rule 42): clarifying when the tribunal will consider written representations.
• Rule 49 (replacing current rule 50): confirming that the tribunal may order the redaction of personal details, including addresses, from the claim and response forms and other documents.
• Rule 58 (replacing current rule 60): clarifying that decisions made by legal officers without a hearing should identify the legal officer who made the decision.
• Rules 59 and 60 (replacing current rules 61 and 62): replacing the requirement for the written records and written reasons of tribunal decisions to be signed by an employment judge with a requirement that they be approved by the presiding member.
• Rule 98 (replacing current rule 99): allowing the Vice President, in addition to the President, in Scotland to be able to consent to the transfer of a case to Scotland.

The rules relating to fees in the current ET Rules have not been replicated in the ETPR. The national security rules of procedure and the equal value rules of procedure, currently contained within schedules 2 and 3 of the ET Regulations, are replicated as schedule 1 and 2 to the ETPR respectively.

The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary have produced a table comparing the ET Rules and ETPR, see: Comparison Table: The Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024

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Further Information:

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