Great Britain: new labor law measures coming into force

Four important new measures come into force on 1 October 2013 (repeal of the third-party harassment provisions, minimum wage increases, etc.).  The first three are part of the programme of reform ‘lighter touch’ regulation which the Coalition government began in 2010 in order, it argued, to relieve business of the burden of ‘red tape’. The Coalition government believes that the removal of more onerous obligations will lead to greater productivity and flexibility, so generating more employment and greater economic growth. (Ref. 130568)
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The first concerns repeal of third-party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010 through Section 65 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (see article No. 100592). Section 40 of the Equality Act is repealed so that the provisions that previously made an employer liable if an individual is harassed by a third party no longer apply. The government decided to conduct the repeal because it found, according to the consultation exercise, that there is ‘no evidence to suggest that th

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