Five things to look out for in 2018 as a Watford Employer:

1. Taxation of Notice Payments from April 6, 2018

From the 6th April, all payments to employees in lieu of notice will be treated as earnings and subject to normal PAYE deductions, even if the employees contract does not contain a payment in lieu of notice clause. So if employees do not work their notice period and receive a payment in lieu of working notice, such payments will be subject to tax.

2. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) dominated the news in 2017 and the same can be expected in the coming year. The regulations will come into force on May 25.

Employers will need to ensure that they are compliant with the new rules regarding the processing of personal data which will include consent, transparency and access rights.

3. Brexit / Immigration

In January, a new Immigration Bill is expected to have its first reading before Parliament which allows the Government to repeal EU law on immigration and establish a new national policy.

4. Gender pay gap reporting

On April 4, the first of the mandatory gender pay gap reports for large private and voluntary sector employers will be due.

5. Parental Bereavement Leave

The Parental Bereavement Leave Bill was published in October 2017 and a commitment to enforce is expected in 2018.

Under the proposals, employed parents whose child dies under the age of 18 years will be entitled to two weeks statutory bereavement leave irrespective of length of service. Employees will receive statutory bereavement pay and those who have more than 26 weeks service will receive 90 per cent of their average earnings.

- Michael Delaney is an Employment Law Partner at Watford based law firm VWV