CEOs and HR heads have enough concerns to fill far more than the European maximum working week of 48 hours. However, this Autumn is full of legislative deadlines from a government that has pledged to reduce the bureaucratic burden.
Luckily, in practice, although lawyers can never tell you so, there is always a period of grace when the authorities, if checking, will want to know that you are taking the issues seriously. You may not need to have changed your policies as yet, but you must be seen to be doing so. The risks come from aggrieved staff who may exaggerate any delays when blowing the whistle. So find time to move fast to minimise your exposure.
At the beginning of October, the rise in the level of the minimum wage may not affect your own workforce. However, it may well affect the catering and cleaning contract staff that work on your premises through suppliers you retain. You may argue that you do not have direct responsibility for this, but it would not take much for this point to be argued by an aggrieved cleaner alleging in public that you have connived with her company to pay below the required rate. So check out those contracts.
You should by now have ensured that your pension scheme is stakeholder compliant, and if it is not, or you don't have one, you must provide access to a scheme for your staff. If you have done nothing, you will still be in the majority at present, but it is better to anticipate problems. For example, it does not take much for a new 18-year old employee to demand access to your scheme that may still have a 21-year old minimum entry level.
The development of employee rights regarding indirect racial discrimination show how the advantages are now firmly with staff. Employers are not any longer assumed to be innocent unless proven otherwise. Now, it is the employer who has to demonstrate innocence in the face of allegations. The regulations are complex, and if you are foreign owned and employ a range of staff with varying ethnic backgrounds, you could find yourself unwittingly in an Employment Tribunal for breaking the law..
The regulations regarding the processing of sensitive data under the Data Protection Act are finally coming into force, but may be subject to further guidance from the Information Commissioner when a new Code of Practice is published. Once the Code is published, you will not be able to delay compliance.
And for financial services organisations, there is N2 - the new regulatory regime is effective from November.