After some toing and froing between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, the govermment has now accepted that the  protection against discrimination in the workplace should also apply to caste discrimination.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has been asked to examine the nature of caste discrimination and harassment before changes are made to the Equality Act.

On 6 April the weekly rate of statutory sick pay increases from £85.85 to £86.70.

On 7 April, the weekly rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increases from £135.45 to £136.78.

From 6th April 2013 the statutory collective redundancy consultation period decreases:

Where an employer makes proposals on or after 6 April to dismiss as redundant 100 or more employees within a period of 90 days or less, the consultation period is reduced from at least 90 days before the first dismissal takes effect to at least 45 days before the first dismissal takes effect.

The minimum consultation period where the employer is proposing to dismiss between 20 and 99 employees remains at 30 days.