Section 16 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (“the Act”) will be implemented in April 2014 according to Jo Swinson (Minister of Employment Relations). This section, when in force, will empower Tribunals to impose financial penalties on employers where they breach a workers rights and there are “aggravating features” The penalty will be 50% of any award made with a cap of £5,000 which is reduced to half if paid within 21 days of the award being made.
Over the Summer the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had initially said that it had “no current plans” to implement Section 16 of the Act but the Minister of Employment Relations has since said, “we plan to” implement this Section “in April 2014.”
Written by
Edward Aston
25th November 2013