04 November 2015

Today the UK Government confirmed that it intends to cap public sector exit payments. Powers to introduce the cap will be included in the Enterprise Bill and associated regulations.

The cap will initially be set at £95,000 and will apply to most exit payments in the public sector, including redundancy, notice and ex gratia payments. The Government will set up a “waiver system” to allow higher payments in exceptional circumstances. There will be some exclusions, for example, the will not apply to payments in respect of death, serious injury attributable to employment, or ill-health retirement, nor to payments made following certain court action. While the cap will apply to most British public bodies, it will be for the Scottish Governments to decide its application to exit payments from devolved bodies. 

The UK Government also stated that it is dropping proposals to require unions to publish in advance their plans for industrial action, pickets, or social media campaigns. The proposal to introduce a legal requirement for unions to appoint a picket supervisor, who will have responsibility for the conduct of a picket, will not now proceed. The picket supervisor will still be required to hold a letter of authority, but the only person with the right to see the letter will be the employer or its agent and that letter need not include the picket supervisor’s name. Plans to introduce a new criminal offence of intimidation on the picket line and to require unions to report annually on their industrial action and picketing activities will not proceed. The Government will update the Code of Practice on Picketing.

To discuss further please contact one of our BTO employment lawyers on 0141 221 8012.