Pay scales and employee benefits

For the first five years, you are allowed to pay staff according to their length of service. However, after five years, you will only be allowed to link pay to length of service if you can prove that you are justifying a valid business need, such as rewarding loyalty.

Setting pay scales based on age will be directly discriminatory.

The statutory bands for pay scales under the National Minimum Wage will remain. You will still be allowed to pay the different rates of pay that mirror the NMW.

If you provide employee benefits (such as extra holiday) on the basis of length of service, you will now need to be able to show a business benefit in making the award, as it is theoretically discriminatory. This even extends to rewarding staff for long service! (Benefits based on service up to five years are exempt from the regulations, however.)

Recruitment
Promotion and training
Pay scales and employee benefits
Harassment
Redundancy
Retirement