Employers will need to prepare themselves for increased demands in 2012, but if you’re a hard working employee, it’s important to know what increased rights are coming your way over the next 12 months.

Here are the most important changes for 2012:

- From April 2012, parental leave entitlement will increase from three to four months.

- Effective as of April 9th, Statutory Maternity, Paternity and Adoption pay will increase to £135.45 per week.

- In addition, Statutory Sick Pay will increase to £85.85 per week, a rise of £4.25 a week.

- Changes to the Employment Tribunal system will include:

• Maximum deposit orders being increased from £500 to £1,000
• Maximum costs orders being increased from £10,000 to £20,000
• Witness statements will no longer be read aloud and will be taken “as read”, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise
• Tribunals have the power to direct that the parties to a dispute are responsible for paying witnesses’ expenses and that the party which loses the case should reimburse the successful party for any such costs already paid out
• Employment judges will be permitted to hear unfair dismissal cases alone

- Working time rules will be amended, allowing holidays to be carried forward in limited circumstances.

- From April 2012, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will likely increase from one year to two.

- From October, the pensions auto-enrolment scheme for larger employers will commence.

For more information on upcoming changes to employment law, and how they could affect you, contact our employment experts today. 2012 will see arguably the greatest change to employment law in many a decade. Staying informed will be the key to making the next 12 months as pain-free as possible.

Under plans being drawn up by ministers, courts will have to ensure that both parents are given access to children in divorce settlements and parents who refuse to accept the orders will be in contempt of court and risk serious penalties and possible jail time.

The proposals mark a change to current laws, under which family courts tend to leave children with their mothers in the vast majority of cases. As a result, one in three children, roughly 3.8million, now live without their father, the Office of National Statistics has revealed.

The plans have been given high profile support from the likes of Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith, and the Conservatives also pledged to introduce the reforms before coming into government.

“Our vision is to establish that, under normal circumstances, a child will have relationship with both his or her parents, regardless of their relationship with each other,” said Tim Loughton, the Children’s Minister.

“We must do everything we can to improve the system so that it gives children the best chance of growing up under the guidance of two loving parents.

“All the evidence tells us that children genuinely benefit from a relationship with both parents, with the potential to make different contributions to their child’s development.”

The Coalition is expected to announce the plans as part of its official response to the Norgrove report by the end of this month, The Daily Telegraph revealed.

“The Government fully supports the Family Justice Review’s position that the vast majority of children benefit from a continuing relationship with both parents after separation,” said a government spokesperson.

“We are looking closely at all options to promote this. We will publish the Government’s response to the Family Justice Review shortly.”

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), employees starting work before 6 April 2012 will continue to be able to claim unfair dismissal after one year’s service. The new two-year qualifying period will only apply to employees who commence employment on or after 6 April 2012.

The extended qualifying period has been brought in to kick-start the UK’s employment markets, in the hope that it will lift the red tape burden faced by struggling employers.

Announcing the doubling of the qualifying period in October, Business Secretary Vince Cable said that businesses have told the government that “unfair dismissal rules are a major barrier to taking on more people”.

The BIS claims the aim of the policy is to encourage recruitment and it does not believe that it is “appropriate or necessary to apply it those already in work”, according to XpertHR.

The Regulations to extend the unfair dismissal qualifying period from April 2012 are subject to parliamentary debate, but are expected to be published soon.

According to a recent poll, 53% of brokers believe they will do more buy-to-let business in 2012, with just 3% expecting to do less. And of those expecting an increase, 19% are predicting a rise in business levels of a whopping 10% or more.

However, when asked about the economic factors which will impact on the mortgage market in the next 12 months, 62% said they expect unemployment to rise, while 42% think GDP growth will fall, according to reports on mortgagestrategy.co.uk.

“2012 is set to be another challenging year for the buy-to-let and general mortgage market as we continue to feel the impact of the eurozone crisis and wider economic factors,” John Heron, Managing Director of Paragon Mortgages, told the site.

“However, it’s positive to see the level of optimism among intermediaries and the fact that more than half expect to increase their level of buy-to-let business throughout the course of the year.”

Paragon’s research comes as Platform, the Co-operative Bank’s dedicated intermediary mortgage provider, revealed it is committed to significantly increase its lending in the buy-to-let market by a third in 2012, ring-fencing £600m to provide funding to the sector over the next 12 months.

Legal publisher Sweet & Maxwell claims there was an 11% increase in the number of pension-sharing orders in the past year and in total, more than one in 10 financial settlements ordered by judges in divorce cases now includes an arrangement to divide the main earner’s pension pot.

Under a legislation that came into effect in December 2000, spouses were for the first time entitled to half of the main earner’s occupational – not state – pension on divorce when courts divided their assets.

But the current increase in orders has been attributed to the ongoing effects of a long and deep recession. With cash in short supply and property prices declining, experts claim a breadwinner’s retirement fund is now likely to be a household’s biggest asset.

However, while the courts’ decisions may be in the best interests of both parties, it means one spouse could have less money to retire with than they had been expecting.

The research follows new figures which show that the number of divorces in England and Wales rose in 2010 for the first time in almost a decade. In addition, Sweet & Maxwell said the total number of financial settlements decided in courts following divorce, or ancillary relief cases, rose by 3% in 2010 to reach 82,290. Of those, 10,205 involved pension-sharing orders, up from 9,218 in 2009.

Confidence in banks is still at an all-time low and small business owners have had to turn to their personal funds to boost their businesses. As a result, 12% of small business owners in the UK have had to put their own homes on the line, while a survey from a major personal asset lender also showed that another 33% would consider using their home as a guarantee if they couldn’t get any other kind of finance.

Continuing economic woes have greatly affected issues such as cash flow, late payments from customers, tax bills and staff wages. And the situation is so dire that the number of small business owners considering a secured loan to get the capital is at the same level as those considering using an unsecured loan (38%) and an overdraft facility from their bank (33%).

“Using your family home as a guarantee for a loan is a huge step for a small business owner and can be risky in this uncertain economic climate but it seems many feel they have no other choice,” said Paul Aitken, Chief Executive of borro, who conducted the research.

“It’s surprising to see that as many small business owners would consider applying for a secured loan as would apply for an unsecured loan or an overdraft, a sign that as banks continue to make it hard to access unsecured lending facilities, so those that require property as security become the next thing to turn to.”

Nearly a quarter of all small businesses have missed out on opportunities to expand their business due to lack of finance, added Mr Aitken, who believes it is not surprising that over two thirds of SMEs feel banks should relax their lending criteria.

“Loans and overdrafts from a bank aren’t the only options open to small businesses today,” he added. “A quarter of small businesses (26%) said they have used or would consider using their personal assets and possessions such as cars, jewellery, fine art and antiques to secure a loan for their business.”

HSBC take the opportunity to make more money and restrict the publics choice. Gazette article refers to the Law Society published letter but I would ask do we need a more concerted approach from government to make sure client choice is not restricted to the very few. Of the large number of law firms in England and Wales the majority are small High Street firms who will rely on conveyancing as a major source of their income. If they are excluded from these panels then they will be barred from this work type and income. Their firms will fail and choice will be severely restricted for members of the public.

Anyone who files two months early could have a chance at a £100,000 prize under suggestions made by David Cameron’s Behavioural Insight Team – which believes the scheme could save the HMRC million in chasing late payments.

A prize draw could increase numbers filing their tax return online early and encourage people to pay their tax on time, said a spokesperson, resulting in increased efficiencies for HMRC.

“Anything that encourages more people to file and pay on time would therefore be a good thing,” added the spokesperson.

The idea follows a similar scheme run by certain local authorities, which incentivised people to pay their council tax by direct debit.

But while the draw could come in as early as this year, the tax office said that “options are still being considered” on whether the draw is a good idea, and that no decision has been taken as yet.

The DWP’s report looked at factors associated with age discrimination and prejudice and compared attitudes between people in their 20s and people aged 70 and over.

Accordingly, over a third of respondents had been shown age-related prejudice in the last year, with experiences of age discrimination more prevalent amongst younger groups, especially the under 25s.

In terms of overall impression in the workplace, people in their 40s were viewed as having the most influence in the workplace, with those aged over 70 given a much higher status than those in their 20s.

Additionally, respondents were asked how acceptable or unacceptable they would find a suitably qualified 30-year-old or 70-year-old boss. And while most respondents were accepting of either, three times as many thought that having a 70-year-old boss would be ‘unacceptable’, compared with having a 30-year-old boss.

If you’ve been a victim of age-related discrimination, contact your employment experts today and make sure you’re not given unfair treatment.

According to a study in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing, alcoholism, nightmares, paranoid behaviour at work and overwhelming distress were just some of the problems reported by the nurses who had previously blown the whistle. And according to lead author and nurse researcher, Dr Kath Peters, the study highlights “how intense and long-lasting the emotional problems can be”.

“The nurses we spoke to talked about overwhelming and persistent distress, acute anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts,” she added.

“Whistle blowing is an issue for all sectors, not just the medical profession. By its very nature it may lead organisations to adopt a defensive stance to protect their own interests and cast those who blow the whistle as troublemakers. This can generate a hostile work environment and even lead to victimisation, ostracism, exclusionary behaviour, hostility and bullying.”

The study comes in the same week that a nurse unfairly dismissed for criticising conditions at a Southall care home was awarded £15,000 in a recent employment tribunal decisions.

Shanta Sangraula was dismissed by the owners of the Whitefriars Nursing Home in Southall after she raised concerns over abuse of elderly residents by colleagues and poor administration of medicines.