Sunday 18 April 2010

Overseas companies operating in the UK



The legislation concerning the registration of a UK branch or place of business by an overseas company has recently changed.
What is a UK establishment?
A UK establishment is either a branch or a place of business set up by an overseas company in the UK.  
These terms are not defined, although in most cases there would be little practical difficulty in recognising from the extent of the overseas company's presence and activities that it had either a branch or a place of business here. The main difficulty used to be in deciding which of the two it was, as the registration requirements were different. 
Now it does not matter: under the Overseas Companies Regulations 2009 the same requirements apply to both.
A UK establishment is not a separate legal entity: it is simply the part of the overseas company operating in the UK.  A third party dealing with the UK establishment should always ensure that contracts and other documents are executed in the name of the overseas company and do not purport to be entered into by the UK establishment as if it had its own separate identity.
Form OS IN01
A UK establishment must be registered at Companies House within a month of being opened, using a 'Registration of an overseas company opening a UK Establishment' application (form OS IN01), which will include details about the overseas company, its directors, its address, and an address and contact details for the UK establishment. 
The current registration fee is £20.  It should take three to five working days for Companies House to process the form and the fee.  Same-day registration is available for £50. For a copy of form OS IN01, click here.
On registering its first UK Establishment (but not subsequent ones), an overseas company should also deliver to Companies House:
  • a copy of its constitutional documents (charter, statute, operating agreement etc) certified as being true, complete and accurate; and
  • a copy of its latest set of accounts (if required to be filed under the parent law).
All documents provided, including accounts, must be prepared in English or accompanied by a certified translation (which can add considerably to time and costs).

Companies House must be notified within 21 days of any changes to the registered particulars.
If an overseas company fails to register a UK establishment within one month of setting it up, under regulation 11 of the Regulations an offence is committed by the company itself and by every director or agent of the company who "knowingly and wilfully authorises or permits the default".
Name
The registered name of the UK establishment can be either the overseas company's own corporate name or an alternative name.
If the overseas company is an EEA company it may register its corporate name unless it is over 160 characters or it includes certain prohibited characters, signs, symbols or punctuation. There are additional restrictions for non-EEA companies, which may, for example, be prevented from using their own names if they are too similar to other names already on the register.
There are restrictions if an alternative name is chosen, and the requirements are different depending on whether the overseas company is registered in the EEA or not.
There are filing requirements and certain controls and restrictions if an overseas company wishes to change its corporate name or its business name or the name of the UK establishment.
Address and trading disclosures
Details of the UK establishment's address, as well as any changes to it, must be registered with Companies House. The UK establishment may be registered in any location in the UK. It must display a sign at each location where it carries on business, stating the overseas company's name and the country that it is incorporated in, and at the service address of every person in the UK who is authorised to accept service of documents on behalf of the overseas company.
All business correspondence, including emails and letters, must state the overseas company's name, and, in the case of a company registered in the EEA, the place of registration and registered number of the UK establishment in easily-legible form. There are fuller requirements for non-EEA incorporated overseas companies. (This is closely aligned with the regime for UK companies and limited liability partnerships.)

Representation
The overseas company is required to give the name and address of every person who is authorised to represent it in the UK, and any limitations on the scope of their authority, on form OS IN01. 
Anyone dealing with a UK establishment would be well-advised to insist that, when entering into agreements and other documents, a representative should state that he is acting as agent for the overseas company and that he has authority to sign the document on its behalf.
It may be expedient for the company to execute a power of attorney or similar document formally setting out the scope of authority conferred on its UK representatives, which can be shown to third parties as evidence of the representatives' authority. Subject to the parent law, it would be possible for the power to be governed by English law. If so, it would have to be a deed. English law simply requires the deed to be executed in the same way as the overseas company executes other documents under the parent law, and that it is delivered as a deed. See regulation 4 of the Overseas Companies (Execution of Documents and Registration of Charges) Regulations 2009 here .
Accounts
If the overseas company is required to prepare and publish accounts under its parent law, copies will need to be delivered to Companies House. A statement by the overseas company relating to the accounts, the relevant standards and their auditing must accompany these documents. Delivery to Companies House must be within three months from the date on which the accounts must be published in accordance with the parent law. 
If the overseas company is not required to publish accounting documents under the parent law, UK national legislation will apply.  This requires the directors of the overseas company to prepare accounts in each of its financial years in accordance with parent law, international accounting standards or the Regulations.  The accounts must be filed with Companies House within thirteen months after the end of the relevant accounting reference period.
In cases of default, each director of the company may be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.
There are slightly different requirements in relation to the accounts and reports of credit or financial institutions.
Directors' details
The usual details of directors such as name, former name, date of birth, service and residential address, nationality, country of residence and business occupation are required. Although a director's residential address must be filed with Companies House, it will not be publicly disclosed.  Where an address appeared at Companies House as the usual residential address of a director, secretary or overseas representative immediately before 1 October 2009 for pre-existing branches and places of business, that address will be the deemed service address from 1 October 2009.  It may therefore be advisable to file new service addresses.
Charges
The Overseas Companies (Execution of Documents and Registration of Charges) Regulations 2009 contain registration requirements that mirror those for English companies. Charges of the specified type (such as charges on land, floating charges, charges on book debts, etc.) must be registered in respect of property situated in the UK within 21 days of the charge being granted. The person with the benefit of the charge normally handles registration.
As these regulations only affect companies with a UK establishment, it is no longer necessary to attempt a so-called Slavenburg registration against overseas companies that do not have a registered presence in the UK. 
The regulations still leave an element of ambiguity, however: there is no test to determine whether an asset is 'situated in' the UK. Although this is easily established for tangible assets such as land, the position is unclear for intangible assets such as financial instruments, which do not have a physical presence in the UK. Given that want of registration makes the charge void against liquidators and others, it is likely that precautionary filings in relation to these assets will be made.
Transitional Provisions
Overseas companies that had an unregistered branch or place of business in the UK immediately before 1 October 2009 are deemed to have opened a UK establishment on 1 October 2009 for the purposes of the Regulations.  They should have delivered a transitional return to Companies House not later than 31 March 2010 on form OS TN01 (available here ). 
Closure of a UK establishment
It was previously enough for an overseas company simply to notify Companies House in writing if it wished to close down a branch or place of business in the UK.  Under the Regulations, form OS DS01 must be submitted to Companies House, signed by a director, company secretary or permanent representative of the company.  The requirement to make regular filings then ceases. For a copy of OS DS01, click here.
For further details, see the Companies House booklet.
The Overseas Companies Regulations 2009 are available here.
The Overseas Companies (Execution of Documents and Registration of Charges) Regulations 2009 are available here.

Saturday 10 April 2010

Charging interest on late payments



The right of any business to claim interest on unpaid bills from customers and clients is enshrined in both UK and European law.


The The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and regulations made in 2000 and 2002, mean that all businesses have a statutory right to claim interest from their clients or customers who don't pay their bills on time.
But 


  • How is interest calculated? 
  • When is a payment deemed to be late? 
  • And when should interest be charged?     

The calculator  here.in conjunction with this guide, can work out how much you should charge and when.

When is a payment late?

When you enter into a contract with a client or customer, one of its key clauses will be the payment terms. Typically, the contract will specify after how many days from the date of invoicing the payment should be made. In some rare cases, it will state how many days after performing the service or getting a signed timesheet the client must pay.
The law says that, in the absence of agreed terms between the supplier and customer the payment terms are assumed to be 30 days from invoice.
This means that if you send an invoice dated the first of the month, the payment should be expected to arrive by the 30th day of that month. Some clients will try and flannel you by saying it's '30 working days', but according to the law there is no doubt – 30 calendar days it is.

What interest can be charged?

Interest can be charged on an overdue payment from the day after the last day that it should have been paid. So, using the example above, if the invoice was dated the first of the month and the terms are 30 days, then you can start charging interest from the 31st day, which could be the 31st of that month or the first of the next.
From the time that payment on the invoice becomes due, the interest will start to accrue on the principal debt owed to you by your customer  based on a formula of the 'reference rate' of the Bank of England plus 8%.
The interest calculated is simple - not compound - interest according to the following formula:
Debt x interest rate x (the number of days late/365) = interest
Interest is charged on the gross amount of the debt including VAT, but VAT is not charged on the interest.
If you'd like an example, though, here you are:
Say you are owed £851.06 plus VAT of £148.94 for goods, which makes a nice round sum of £1,000. 


You invoiced your customer this sum on 1st May on 30 day terms, meaning the customer must pay £1,000 by or on 30th May. Failure to do so means you can start charging interest from 31st May.
Let's say the customer has not paid by 29th June, which is 30 days after the debt should have been paid. You can then charge 30 days interest.
If the 'reference rate' of the Bank of England is 0.5%, then the total interest is 8.5% (reference rate plus 8%). To calculate the interest on the late payment:
£1,000 x 8.5% = £85 (the interest to be paid in a year)
£85/ 365 = 23.3p (the daily interest)
23.3p x 30 days = £6.99 (the interest owed to date on 30 days)
For the average business, owed several invoices over three months old or more, this sum starts to add up. For your customer it adds up too, hopefully providing them with the incentive to pay the money they owe you without further delay.

Make sure everything is in writing

To be sure that the legislation works completely in you favour and there is no chance of the customer getting off on a technicality, ensure that your paperwork is squeaky clean. This means:
  • Agree payment terms in writing
  • Include interest charges, and the intention to claim them, in the payment terms
  • Ensure timesheets, delivery notes etc are correctly signed off, to avoid disputes
  • Ensure there is no reason for customers o dispute invoices
  • Make sure that your terms clearly state the time period in which the customer must raise a dispute (otherwise they could buy themselves time by waiting until the invoice is due for payment before disputing it)
  • Inform the customer in writing when the debt is due that action will be taken and interest charged.
Case law now works in your favour when invoices remain unpaid. Customers can no longer hide behind minor inconsistencies or errors in invoices and refuse to pay their suppliers – the courts will give them short shrift.
But this does not mean you should be anything less than totally efficient and professional in your paperwork and debtor management, particularly as the next stage of chasing late payments is to start debt recovery proceedings.

Be reasonable...

Although the law allows you to start charging interest immediately, remember that genuine errors and oversights do occur, and that accounts departments are made up of fallible people.
So rather than being heavy-handed as soon as payment is due, it is always best to start the process with a friendly telephone call to the client or agent, followed up with a polite and friendly letter.
Further advice on using the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is available from Business Link and The Better Payment Practice Campaign.

UK : Companies Act 2006 Are your Articles up to date?


Key points
  • Directors of new private companies may issue shares without shareholder approval. For an existing company to have this power, an ordinary resolution is needed.
  • Communicating with shareholders electronically and via a website is now available but may require authorisation by the articles and the consent of shareholders.
  • Directors' conflicts of interest may be authorised by the directors if empowered to do so by resolutionor articles. This could avoid a breach of duty.
  • The new Act has reduced red tape in a number of areas: shorter notice for meetings, no compulsory annual general meetings and easier written resolutions by way of example.  Your articles may be out of step and block the use of new flexible provisions or contain provisions which will be invalid. Directors should be recommending to shareholders that a company's articles be amended to simplify administration and remove misleading provisions from the articles.

General points

The new model articles 

Companies limited by shares or guarantee which are incorporated in England and Wales on or after 1 October 2009 will be registered under the Companies Act 2006. 



New sets of model articles for private companies to replacing Table A have been introduced: one for private companies limited by shares and the other for private companies limited by guarantee. These will be the 'default' articles for companies incorporated on or after 1 October 2009, although a company may instead adopt its own articles which may exclude or modify the model articles. New companies will probably choose to incorporate some parts of the model articles, but will also set out their own provisions separately.

Existing companies can choose to adopt the model articles if they wish, but do need not do so. In future if you amend your articles this should be done by reference to the provisions of the 2006 Act and it would be prudent practice for the amended articles to be based on the model articles rather than Table A.


Articles of Association

There is no legal requirement for you to amend your articles as a result of the October 2009 changes and you could choose to continue with your existing constitution. However, as you will see below, there are a number of changes which may affect your current articles and you may wish to make life easier by updating them to take advantage of the more flexible regime being introduced for private companies under the 2006 Act.


Memorandum of Association 

From 1 October 2009 the memorandum of association of new companies looks very different and in particular has no objects clause. It is simply a 'snapshot' document and of no continuing relevance after incorporation. For existing companies, most of the provisions of the current memorandum will automatically be treated as part of the articles of association and so can be amended or deleted by special resolution. Existing companies do not have to amend their articles to reflect this change, but may do so if they wish. New companies may have unrestricted objects, whereas an existing company will need to amend its articles to take advantage of this.



Authorised share capital 

New companies will no longer have an authorised share capital, although a company may impose a limit on the number of shares it may issue in its articles.



The authorised share capital of an existing company operates as a restriction in the articles on the number of shares which can be allotted by directors and an existing company should consider whether to remove this restriction by passing an ordinary resolution. 


It may also be advisable to remove any other provisions in the articles referring to authorised share capital. Alternatively, an existing company could adopt new articles by special resolution with effect from any date after 1 October 2009 which do not refer to authorised share capital.

Existing authority to allot 

After 1 October 2009, it is no longer possible to pass an elective resolution under s80A of the 1985 Act granting indefinite or extended authority to allot shares. Once expired, all authorities to allot will have to be made under the new Act and will be limited to five years in duration. 



Existing authorities for directors to allot shares under s80 and s80A Companies Act 1985 will continue to have effect after 1 October 2009 until they expire and they will be treated as if passed under the 2006 Act. 


Provisions in an existing company's articles which contain s80 authorities will need to be renewed in order to update them to reflect the wording of the new Act.

Issue and terms of redemption of redeemable shares


Private companies no longer need specific authorisation in the articles to issue redeemable shares. An existing company wishing to continue to restrict or prohibit the issue of redeemable shares must include appropriate restrictions or prohibitions in its articles. Currently, the terms and manner of redemption must be stated in the articles, but from 1 October 2009 the directors of the company can determine the terms, conditions and manner of redemption, if they are authorised to do so by the articles or by an ordinary resolution. 


If the directors are not given such authority, all of these terms must be set out in the articles. 


Shares must generally still be paid for on redemption although the terms of redemption may now allow the redemption monies to be paid after the redemption date if the terms of redemption, whether fixed by the articles or by the directors, allow and the relevant shareholders agree. 


An existing company which has issued redeemable shares could renegotiate with its shareholders the terms of redemption contained in its current articles and amend its articles in order to take advantage of the flexibility allowed by this new development. In the current economic climate this may be useful for some companies since it will improve a company's cashflow.

Reduction of share capital 

Since 1 October 2008 private companies have been able to reduce their share capital by passing a special resolution and no longer need to obtain court approval. 



The resolution is accompanied by a solvency statement made by each director.


This new procedure is subject to any restriction or prohibition in the company's articles. 


You may wish to consider whether you require any such restrictions or whether to delete an existing authority requiring court approval, which is now redundant. There is no longer any need for specific authorisation in the articles to effect a reduction of capital. If your articles contain such authorisation you need do nothing further. However, if you are updating your articles for any other reason then you may choose to omit these provisions in order to avoid any duplication with the 2006 Act.


Proxies 

There are a number of important changes being made in relation to the rights of proxies which may affect your articles. 




  • If any provision of your articles provides that a proxy has fewer votes than the member would have had, this will be invalid. 
  • If your articles incorporate Table A pre-October 2007, it would be advisable to amend them since regulation 54 does not allow proxies to vote on a show of hands and will, therefore, be void after October this year. 
  • Also any provisions of your articles requiring an appointment of a proxy to be received by the company more than 48 'business' hours before the meeting will be void although your articles can set a time limit closer to the meeting. 
  • You must also ensure that your articles do not specify a period longer than 48 'business' hours before a meeting for receiving notice of termination of a proxy's appointment since this will also be void.


Registration of share transfers 

If your articles state that the company does not have to give reasons for refusing to register a transfer of shares or allows share transfers to be at the discretion of directors, they should be amended to reflect the new rules which make it a criminal offence not to give reasons for refusing to register a transfer. 



Nomination of third party rights 


Since October 2007 companies can include in their articles provisions enabling members to nominate another person to exercise their rights as a member, for example, the right to receive notice of general meetings and to be sent proposed written resolutions. If you have not done so you may wish to amend your articles to allow your members this flexibility.


Directors' indemnities 

In April 2005, the ability of companies to indemnify their directors against the legal and financial costs of claims brought by third parties was extended. 



Companies were also permitted for the first time to pay directors' defence costs as they are incurred (provided these are repaid if the defence is unsuccessful), rather than at the conclusion of legal proceedings. 


The 2006 Act has extended the scope of directors' indemnities still further to include liability incurred by a director in connection with his acting as a trustee of an occupational pension scheme. Many companies have outdated indemnity provisions in their articles which will not cover all these matters.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes Know Your Rights

The introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme ("TDS") was intended to address complaints concerning the way some landlords of residential properties would fail to return tenants' deposits.

TDSs were created under the Housing Act 2004 ("the Act") and became mandatory for all residential assured shorthold tenancies created on or after 6 April 2007. An assured shorthold tenancy is designed for use with residential lettings and tenancies made on or after 1 April 1990 under the Housing Act 1988. There are a number of criteria that must be fulfilled for the tenancy to be considered an assured shorthold tenancy, for example the rent must not be more than £125,000 per year.


The Act provides for two types of authorised scheme: "custodial" and "insurance". 


Custodial


A custodial TDS requires a landlord to pay its tenant's deposit to a scheme administrator within 14 days of receipt from the tenant. The scheme administrator holds the deposit until the tenancy comes to an end. The deposit (or balance due to the tenant) is then returned to the tenant. 


Insurance


Under an insurance TDS the landlord retains possession of the deposit and pays an insurance premium to the scheme administrator. The scheme administrator will then repay the tenant should the landlord misappropriate the deposit.


It is for the landlord to choose which scheme to use, not the tenant. The landlord must then inform the tenant of the TDS being used within 14 days of receiving the deposit and provide the tenant with certain "prescribed information" (section 213 of the Act).

The sanctions for non-compliance are severe. Where the requirements have not been met the tenant can apply to court. If the court is satisfied that the landlord's obligations have been breached, it must either order the repayment of the deposit or (where a custodial scheme is being used) order that the deposit be handed over to the administrator of the scheme. In addition, it must order the landlord to pay to the tenant a sum equal to three times the amount of the deposit.



Furthermore, section 215 of the Act provides that no section 21 notice to terminate the assured shorthold tenancy can be served until the landlord has complied with the initial requirements of the scheme and has given the tenant the prescribed information.


Case Law

The first reported case on the operation of the TDS was reported in late 2008 (Harvey v Bamforth [2008] 46 EG 119). 



The Facts


In this case the defendant had paid a deposit of £520. The landlord had complied with the initial requirements of an insurance TDS. However the landlord did not supply the "prescribed information". The tenant fell into arrears and the landlord issued proceedings for possession. It became clear the landlord had not complied with the act and the claim for possession was withdrawn.


The tenant, realising the landlord's error, applied for the return of the deposit and the payment of the penalty (being three times the amount of the deposit). The judge ruled that by failing to give the prescribed information within 14 days the landlord was in sufficient breach to trigger the sanctions. He therefore ordered repayment of the deposit and the penalty was set off against the arrears of rent.


Point at Issue


The landlord appealed as to whether the 14 day limit for providing the information was integral to trigger the sanctions. 


Decision


The judge on appeal made it clear that only a failure to comply with providing the information triggered the mandatory penalties. In the circumstances, the tenant had applied to court after the landlord (albeit belatedly) provided the prescribed information. The landlord was therefore not in breach and was not liable to repay the deposit or pay the penalty.


However, despite the landlord's request, the judge refused to clarify what would happen if the tenant had applied before the information was provided. There must therefore be a real possibility that, in such circumstances, a landlord will be liable.


Conclusion


Landlords must therefore ensure they comply with their obligations under the TDS as tenants may be able to enforce severe sanctions for non-compliance.



UK: Perpetuities And Accumulations Act 2009 Update

This act became fully operative on 6 April 2010. 


Its chief impact is that all wills and trusts executed after 6 April 2010 have a perpetuity period of 125 years, as opposed to the previous maximum of 80 years. 


The accumulation period, previously limited to 21 years, also increases to 125 years,thus avoiding  the situation where income must be distributed to inappropriate or immature beneficiaries, rather than accumulated with capital. A shorter perpetuity and accumulation period may still be chosen if appropriate.


The relevant periods for trusts already in existence remain unchanged. There is a provision in the Act, however, which allows trustees to execute a deed extending the perpetuity period to 100 years where there is uncertainty as to when the perpetuity period stipulated in the trust deed will end -  typically  where the perpetuity period is defined by reference to 'lives in being'.


Although the Act is silent on the point, it appears that the execution of a codicil which 'republishes' a will, will allow the new, extended perpetuity and accumulation periods to apply, although specific drafting will be needed in order to deal with the limitations on the perpetuity period and accumulations which will already be in the will. However, if a new trust is created by the exercise of a power of appointment, the new trust or sub-trust will have the same perpetuity period as the original trust containing the power.


The extension of the perpetuity and accumulation periods for UK trusts may make the UK a more favourable trust jurisdiction than previously. However, even these extended periods are more limited than the position in many offshore jurisdictions where perpetuity periods have been abolished entirely, effectively allowing assets to be tied up in trust indefinitely.


Charitable trusts are still governed by the old rule because it was deemed contrary to public interest to allow charities to accumulate income indefinitely

UK: Employment Terms - 'Self Employed' Or 'Employed'

Recently, the Court of Appeal decided that a group of 20 car valeters who were employed under terms and conditions by which they professed to be 'self-employed' were, in reality, 'employees'.


Facts


The valeters' contracts consisted of terms including that they could supply suitably qualified substitutes to carry out the valeting on their behalf, and that there was no obligation upon the company to provide them with work, or upon the valeters to accept it. The valeters lodged claims in the tribunal seeking a declaration that they were workers or employees and therefore entitled to holiday pay and other benefits.


Employment Appeals Tribunal


The tribunal initially held in favour of the valeters, holding that their contracts did not reflect the reality of the situation, but the EAT subsequently reversed the tribunal's decision in favour of the company, holding that before the tribunal could find that a term of a contract was a sham, it had to be shown that both parties intended the contract to paint a false picture, and there was insufficient evidence on the facts of such intention.


Court of Appeal


On appeal to the Court of Appeal, the decision of the EAT was overturned. The Court of Appeal held that in this situation, the court or tribunal had to consider whether or not the words of the written contract represented the true intentions or expectations of the parties, not only at the commencement of the contract, but also at a later stage where the parties may have expressly or impliedly varied the terms of the agreement between them. The fact that there was a joint intention between the parties that the valeters would turn up for work each day and accept the work provided, and that the substitution clause did not genuinely reflect the rights of the valeters, supported the tribunal's original decision. Accordingly, the EAT concluded that the valeters were in fact employees.


Conclusion


This decision confirms that where there is a dispute as to the status of the written terms of a contract, the focus of the tribunal must be to discover the actual legal obligations of the parties.



Thursday 8 April 2010

UK Employment Changes from 6 April 2010




Several new employment law changes take effect from 6 April 2010.

"Fit" notes

New fit notes will come into use from 6 April 2010 replacing the existing "sick note" and focusing on what can be done to assist an employee's return to work. 



An early proposal to give GPs the option to certify an employee as "fit for work" was rejected in favour of the more ambivalent "you may be fit for work ".


If this option is used, the doctor can then suggest adjustments to the work or workplace which would enable the employee to go back to work. Focusing on what the employee is able to do should help to facilitate the employee's return to work. If however, the employer is unable to accommodate the adjustments proposed by the doctor, the employee will be considered not fit for work.

The introduction of fit notes should assist employers to manage long-term sickness absence by encouraging employees and employers to evaluate whether there are any aspects of the employment that the employee can undertake, notwithstanding the sickness reason. Fit notes will need to be utilised properly by both doctors and employers if they are to achieve their full potential.

To access a copy of the regulations effecting the change, please click 
here.


New right to request time off for training

Employees working for employers with 250 or more employees will have a new right to request unpaid time off to undertake study or training from 6 April 2010. 



This right will be extended to all employees, regardless of the size of their employer, from 6 April 2011. 


To make such a request, the employee must have completed 26 weeks' continuous employment and the purpose of the training must be to improve their effectiveness at work and the performance of their employer's business. Employers will be obliged to consider requests but may refuse where there is a good business reason for doing so. This can include where the employer does not believe the training will improve business performance. The maximum amount of compensation that may be awarded where an employer does not comply with the procedural requirements in respect of a request, or refuses an application on impermissible grounds, is eight weeks' capped pay.

The detail of the new right is set out in The Employee Study and Training (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations 2010 (available 
here)
The Employee Study and Training (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2010 (available 
here) and the Employee Study and Training (Qualifying Period of Employment) Regulations 2010 (available here).


New power for tribunals in relation to whistleblowing 


From 6 April 2010, employment tribunals will have a new power enabling them to send ET1 forms (or extracts from the form) which relate to whistleblowing claims directly to a prescribed regulator where the claimant has expressly given consent to this by ticking a box on their ET1 form. The regulator will be able to investigate the alleged malpractice and take appropriate action.

The power is granted by virtue of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2010, accessible 
here.
Increase in additional paternity leave and pay 


Six new regulations will come into force on 6 April 2010 providing for additional paternity leave and pay to parents of babies born (and adoptive parents notified of a match) on or after 3 April 2011. Relevant employees (usually fathers) will have the right to take a maximum of 26 weeks' paternity leave if the mother (or primary adopter) were to return to work early. The leave may be taken at any time within the period which begins 20 weeks after the child is born (or placed for adoption) and ends 12 months after that date. Some of the leave would be paid if taken during the equivalent of the mother's (or primary adopter's) paid leave period. Employers should update their policies now to take account of the impending changes.

Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from 4 April 2010 to £124.88 a week (or 90% of normal weekly earnings if lower).


Rise in minimum pension age 


The minimum age at which people can start to receive pension payments from an occupational or personal pension scheme rises from 50 to 55 on 6 April 2010. There are some exceptions to this, including where the scheme member has a protected pension age or severe health problems.