Legislation wise this will be another very busy October with legal changes being implemented covering a wide range of issues with most of the new legislation to be introduced in October emanates from Department for Business Innovation and Support. Whilst they cover a wide range off issues, not surprisingly, bearing in mind the current economic crisis, the areas affected tend to relate to employees pay and entitlements, in particular minimum wage and minimum entitlement in redundancy.

The Department for Business, Innovation and skills has announced that from the first of October 2009, the National Minimum wage will be increased from £5.50 an hour to £5.80 for workers aged 22 and over (standard adult rate). Those between the ages of 18 and 21 will also benefit from an increased hourly rate of £4.83 (Development Rate) and those between 16 and 17 (Young workers rate) will be entitled to £3.57 per hour. Also worth noting is that the government has said that form October 2010, the national minimum wage will also be extended to 21 year olds.

The amount allowed to be offset when an employer provides a worker with accommodation will rise from £4.46 to £4.51. Another change in the area of minimum wage is the government's announcement that as of 1 October 2009, tips gratuities and service charges can no longer count towards deciding whether a worker is receiving the national minimum wage.

Further, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published its final impact assessment on the Work and Families (Increase of Maximum Amount) Order 2009 and confirmed that the maximum limit of a week's pay will be increased from £350 to £380 from the 1st of October 2009. This is again a recession driven piece of legislation - the idea is to provide more support for individuals made redundant in the current economic climate. This increase in the limit will affect all compensation payments to which the week's pay limit is relevant. The introduction of this one-off increase in October 2009 also the up rating which usually takes place in February each year will be suspended in respect of 2010. These rates will therefore remain in place until February 2011.

More interesting to lawyers is the is the replacement of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords by the New Supreme Court which will take place from October 2009. Whilst this will has not attracted a great deal of profile, it does represent a very important constitutional change formally cutting all ties between the legislature and the judiciary. The rules setting out the procedures used in this jurisdiction are called "the Supreme Court Rules" and will come into force from October 2009. Looking at these rules, they certainly seem less archaic and more user friendly than their predecessors.

Another important area affected by the October changes is in respect of employees working with children and vulnerable adults. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 will introduce a centralised vetting system for people banned from working with children and vulnerable adults. There will be a fine of £5000 for employers that "knowingly" employ individuals on the list or fail to make relevant checks (which will be available online). Clearly, employers potentially affected by this must ensure that they are fully aware of the implication of this legislation. They must ensure that adequate systems are put in place to deal with this.

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