2006 

1 February

• The limit on the amount of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal increased from £56,800 to £58,400.  The maximum amount of a “week’s pay” for the purpose of calculating basic or additional awards of compensation for unfair dismissal or redundancy pay increases from £280 to £290.

6 April

• The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 came into force, extending the definition of a relevant transfer to service provision changes, placing a requirement on the transferor to notify the transferee of “employee liability information” and clarifying the circumstances in which employers can make lawful transfer–related dismissals and negotiate transfer–related changes.
  
  
• The Commission for Racial Equality’s Revised Code of Practice came into force.
  
  
• The standard rate of statutory sick pay increased to £70.05 per week.
  
  
• The standard rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increased to £108.85.

1 October

• The Statutory Maternity Pay, Social Security (Maternity Allowance) and Social Security (Overlapping Benefits) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 came into force and apply to employees with an expected week of childbirth on or after 1 April 2007. The Regulations extend the period of statutory maternity pay from 26 to 39 weeks, and allow statutory maternity pay to continue to be paid where work is undertaken for not more than 10 days within the pay period.
  
  
• The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (General) and the Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (Weekly Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 came into force and apply to employees whose expected week of childbirth is on or after 1 April 2007 (or, in relation to adoption, where the placement occurs on or after this date). The Regulations extend the period of adoption pay from 26 to 39 weeks and allow statutory adoption pay to continue to be paid where work is undertaken for not more than 10 days within the pay period.
  
  
• The Maternity and Parental Leave etc and the Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2006 came into force, applying to employees whose expected week of childbirth is on or after 1 April 2007 (or, in relation to adoption, where the placement occurs on or after 1 April 2007).  The Regulations remove the length of service qualifying requirement for additional maternity leave, entitle an employer to make reasonable contact with an employee during maternity or adoption leave and permit an employee to work for up to 10 days during the leave period.
  
  
• The National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2006 came into force increasing the main rate of the National Minimum Wage to £5.35 per hour and the rate for 18-21 year olds to £4.45 per hour.  The rate for workers aged 16 and 17 increases to £3.30.
  
  
• The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force. The Regulations make discrimination on the grounds of age unlawful, set a default retirement age of 65 and oblige employers to consider requests to work beyond this age.

4 December

• Sections of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 came into force, placing a general duty on public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and to promote equality of opportunity between disabled persons and other persons.