Employment Law Legislation Update

The Employment Law Update includes two recent amendments to legislation. For more information on any of the amendments, please contact the Advice Line or visit the Internet address provided.

Apprenticeship Reform Bill 

Following the article in the August edition of Essential News, on 27 October 2008, Skills Secretary, John Denham, pledged to double the number of apprentices in the public sector.

Over the next year, the Government plans to place over 1,000 apprentices in central Government organisations. This is twice the number that was promised at the start of the year.

Already more than 100 apprentices have started work in the Civil Service.   

Quality is improving. Apprenticeship completion rates have improved from 24% in 2001/02 to 62% so far in 2006/07 and the trend is that the improvement will continue.   

The Government wants to go further and make more apprenticeships available to both young people and adults, in particular, introducing an entitlement to an apprenticeship for 16-18-year-olds. Therefore, it is now being considered what legislative powers we need to regulate or promote apprenticeships in the future.   

By 2013, an entitlement will be introduced to an apprenticeship place for all school leavers who meet the entry criteria. It will mean that every young person leaving school who wants to continue their learning in a work-based environment can do so.

Right to request flexible working is extended - April 2009

The right to request fl exible working is extended to parents of children up to the age of 16. So, the right to request fl exible working is set to be extended in April 2009 from those with children up to the age of six, to those with children up to the age of 16.