MANCHESTER, England, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

A recent study that was commissioned by the British government found that many employers don't understand the UK's employment law legislation. This means that both employers and employees are in danger when it comes to all sorts of issues.

Since the findings of the study were released a number of changes have been made to current employment law legislation that will come into effect from April 6, 2013, so all businesses should be making an extra effort to make sure they're up to date. Companies like ELAS specialise in providing expert information to businesses about employment law in the UK, as this specialist employment law firm is constantly kept up-to-date with all of the latest changes.

This week a few major variations regarding employment law have been announced, which will come into place on April 6, ready for the beginning of the new financial year, so it's essential that companies are aware of the changes.

The first thing to be aware of involves redundancy notice periods. As it currently stands, the minimum notice period that you can provide if you're dismissing over 100 employees is 90 days before the first redundancy takes place. After the April 6^th threshold the minimum number of days will be reduced to just 45 days. However, if the dismissal involves between 20 and 99 employees then the notice period won't change from its current value of 30 days.

Secondly, you need to be aware of the new PAYE system that's being introduced. Rather than filling out P14 and P35 forms at the end of each financial year, employers will now have to provide HM Revenue and Customs with real-time information about each employee's PAYE deductions. The scheme has been named the 'Real Time Information Scheme' and requires new software to allow employers to send information across to HMRC electronically at the end of each month.

There will also be an increase in the amount of statutory sick pay that an employee is entitled to. If an employee has been off work for more than four days in a row then they are entitled to weekly statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks. At the moment the weekly payment is £85.85 - unless an employee's contract of employment states a larger amount - but on 6^th April this amount rises to £386.70.

Finally, on April 7, 2013 statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay are also to increase from £135.45 to £136.78. Statutory maternity leave is made up of a total of 52 weeks - 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks additional leave - most people don't take this amount of time (most take between six and nine months) but by law the mother has to take at least two weeks off after the birth of their baby or four weeks if they have a job in a factory. Although you can have maternity leave for 52 weeks statutory maternity pay is only paid for up to 39 weeks and is paid as 90% of weekly earnings for the first six weeks and - after 7^th April - £136.78 per week or 90% of weekly wages if that amount is lower thereafter.

ELAS is a Manchester based business that has been operating since 1996; the team is made up of solicitors, barristers and other legal professionals and they specialise in providing up-to-date advice to businesses on the latest employment legislation in the UK.

SOURCE Employment Law Advisory Services LTD